Crossed Times
by Jade Rotaski Queen of the Damned
Summary: When Alex Mercer is forced by his sister to take in an injured stranger, he didnt expect said stranger to be from 800 years in the past, or to be an assassin...  Main pairing: Alex/Altair, other pairings may follow
1. First meeting

Wow...it's been a real long time since I wrote something new XD Okay seen as there is NO semi-serious Alex MercerxAltair fanfics out there that have any homosexual themes in them, I've gone 'fuck it' and decided to give it a go, because GOD KNOWS someone has to! So sit down with your favourite beverage relax and enjoy!

Jade

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Crossed Times

Chapter 1:

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Altiar was defiantly the weirdest man Alex Mercer had ever met.

That was one of the first things Alex mercer found out about he assassin; though if he;d had his way he wouldn't know anything at all because he wouldn't have taken the man into their hideout; it was Dana; his younger sister, who convinced him to help the other.

When they first met Altair he was wearing strange clothing he was severely wounded and spoke in broken English, Dana had insisted Alex carry the injured man to Ragland to be fixed up; she had a much kinder heart that Alex ever had and grudgingly he obeyed his sister, if only so they could get answers later.

Ragland had a hard time talking off the others outfit having seen nothing like it before, it seemed underneath every layer of cloth, there was a new weapon hiding underneath; a longsword a short sword, hidden throwing knives are just a sample of Altair's arsenal but what shocked the three of them, was the hidden blades hidden in Altair's gauntlets, Ragland accidentally set one off an almost stabbed himself in the face!

"Jesus Christ...what IS this guy?" He said as he finally got the very dangerous weapon off "Hey hes got a ring finger missing..." He said softly as he examined the man's left hand "Interesting, maybe he cut it off to compensate fro the blade" He pondered before he noticed the man's face, it was handsome he had short cropped dark hair, and tanned skin suggesting he wasn't from America or anywhere close to the continent; he was interesting enough face wise, but that's not what he was looking at "He also has a scar on his face, it cuts across his mouth on the left side...old war wound perhaps?" He said more to himself than to the Mercers; it was a habit as a coroner to talk to himself like this as if talking to a tape recorder when examining bodies.

He looked to the two and shook his head "Whoever this man is I don't think he's from this century his clothing and the weapons...it doesn't add up" The doctor said softly "Where did you find him?"

Ragland turned to Alex who was leaning against the wall wanting to be anywhere but here; if Dana hadn't INSTISTED on coming alone with him on observation this one time, he would have ignored Altair and not even given him a second thought, but Dana saw him and insisted they help him.

"In an alleyway" Alex muttered as if that explained everything; Dana rolled her eyes at her brother but didn't correct him seen as it had been the truth. Once Ragland had the others clothing off he inspected the wounds, he had two of them, one in his right shoulder which seemed to have been inflicted by a blade of some kind, and the other was in his side a bit of wood was poking out of his flesh; it wasn't bleeding heavily most likely because the arrow in his body acted as a stopper so he didn't lose too much blood.

"A sword wound and an arrow in his side? Your lucky you both spotted him; even with the arrow in his body he would soon have died of blood loss" Ragland said softly as he injected an local anaesthetic where the wound was and gently cut where the arrow was; making an incision to prise the arrow head and what was left of the wood out; once that was done he checked for any major internal damage; lucky for the injured man there didn't seen to be any and Ragland stitched the man's wound up and with help form Dana and Alex he bandaged up the unconscious male's side before dealing with his arm which was just as severe; the blade must have had enough force behind it not only to cut into the others arm but break the bone as well.

Once the man was patched up Ragland peeled off his stained medical gloves and washed his hands "So...what are you going to do with him?" He asked curiously, the man couldn't stay here in the morgue.

"Nothing-"Alex started

"I don't know yet" Dana looked at her brother who had spoken at the same time as her; there was silence for a moment and she could see her brothers face contort in disagreement already before she had even opened her mouth, she could tell, even with his face half hidden by his hoodie that he didn't like what she was thinking.

"No Dana" He bit out sounding annoyed; and he had every right to be because he knew what she wanted to do and there was NO WAY IN HELL he was going to allow it.

The young women sighed exasperated at this "Alex we cant just dump him on the streets! What if he has nowhere to go? What if he gets attacked again! What if its Gentek?"

"Wielding bows and arrows and swords?" Alex said sceptically as he shook his head with an annoyed grunt "He-" He pointed to the unconscious man who lay there innocently on the slab, his breathing slow and even "He, is NOT our problem Dana, YOU are the one who wanted to save him not me"

"And that means we just dump him on the streets with HUNTERS prowling around and looking for weak people to kill and infect?" She hissed "I knew my brother had problems but I didn't know he was a heartless dick!" She bit obviously annoyed.

"...Alex bit back the urge to say that he WASN'T technically her brother any more he was the virus, he was Blacklight and nothing more then that, but even he knew that was a lie; despite everything else, the killing and the consuming, he still cared deeply for his- for Alex's little sister; he wanted to look after her and to protect her from what was going on, and if that was true, didn't that mean some of the real Alex Mercer still remained?

Alex had spend days staying up awake and thinking this over but he hadn't been able to reach any valid or solid conclusions about himself; but what he he did know was that he HATED fighting with Dana and she was right; if they just left him out on the streets while unconscious it was almost as good as condemning him to death or worse, to be a hunter.

"...ONE night, he can stay for ONE night then he's gone as soon as he wakes up, understand? We cant risk this guy knowing too much in case he WORKS for Gentek" Alex said softly as Dana's face turned from pissed off to satisfied at the compromise.

"Alright, One night" She promised "You'll have to carry him, what with the superhuman strength and all" She said with a soft smile.

Alex sighed as he picked Altair up; his lower half was still covered in dark pants made of a soft material his upper half Ragland had dressed in a plain Hospital gown, the dark haired man didn't even twitch as Alex carried him.

They had to be careful on the way back the large abandoned apartment complex that they now lived in thanks to Dana friend being away; Alex dumped the man on the sofa and left him there as he paced about trying to think of what to do next; trying to focus on his actual goal of stopping Greene and stopping the outbreak.

"Alex, stop pacing, its late there's not a lot we can do now, just leave Gentek and Greene until tomorrow, I'll see what I can find tonight" She said "You need to sleep.

"Im not tired" Alex said softly.

"Your NEVER tired...but that's a lie you just don't want to sleep" Dana said softly.

"Its more like I can't" He murmured softly; he had never burdened his sister with the voices in his head after he had consumed and kill more of the fact that he couldn't sleep because of it but he knew he probably looked awful under his hoodie; he hadn't slept in months and it was really starting to show.

"Can you try? For me at least?" Dana asked quietly; she knew it was probably a lot to ask of him considering what he;d done for her already and how much he had trusted her with but his ragged and worn out state worried her; he was constantly out there fighting; he never slept and he never ate and even though she figured he no longer had a need to, it still kicked off her sibling instincts to worry about her big brother.

"...I'll try but I'm not guaranteeing anything" He said before he glanced to the still unconscious man in his sofa "Make sure he'd out of here by morning" He grumbled before he turned and left.

Dana just sighed as she let her brother go before she turned to the man with so many mysteries still surrounding him; when he woke up Dana wouldn't be kicking him out, not before she questioned him anyway.

* * *

The next morning Altiar Ibn-La'Ahad shifted under whatever warm comfy thing he was lying on; he could feel the sunlight trying to wake him up but by Allah he did NOT want to wake up! He ached all over! The tanned man let out a soft groan and sighed as he realized no matter what he wanted his mind wanted him to wake up and be alert, something was nagging at his conscience.

The tanned male opened his eyes slowly and looked confused as he stared at the ceiling; where in Allah;s name was he? He shifted and slowly sat up, before he stopped and hissed in pain; he remembered the battle with Al Mualim, the guards and the former marks he;d killed, became spirits and attacked him; he was outnumbered but he;d fought back then just before he could finish his former mentor off; the piece of Eden in the man's hands glowed brightly...

And that was the last thing Altair remembered; he didn't have a clue where he was now he looked down at himself he wasn't wearing his uniform, instead some strange robe that felt odd, he lifted it and was surprised to find his wounds had been cleaned and dressed "..."

"Oh! Your awake!" Altair's head snapped over to face a young women she couldn't have been much older then eh was she was dressed in baggy pyjamas and was holding a steaming cup of...something in one hand and what seemed like a glass of water in the other.

Altair just looked her up and down; she spoke the language of the templars! However she herself didn't look to be one of them in fact she looked...sort of harmless; then took in his surroundings which looked nothing like the sanded buildings of the holy land; where on earth was he! "..." He wasn't sure what to say; his English was not that great though he new a few words "...Where, am I?" he asked slowly his voice sounded awful and Altair grimace;d it must have been a couple of days since he;d had water.

"Your safe, well at least for now, this is my friends place, me and my brother are sort of crashing here...I'm Dana" She said before she offered him the glass of water; he eyed it suspiciously and she rolled her eyes "Its not poisoned you know" she said.

Hesitantly, Altair took it and sipped it ; it tasted fresh and cool and it soothed his dry throat; Once held drunk the whole glass he handed it back to her "...Thank you..." He fell silent again as Dana chuckled.

"Your a man of few words aren't you, reminds me of someone ELSE I know" She said with a roll of her eyes "So, do you have a name or am I going to have to give you a nick name?" She said amused as she sat on a couch opposite in and watched him.

It was a long moment, and Altair still hadn't spoken before Alex walked in; he hadn't had a wink of sleep and had waited until 9am to walk out of the room "...What is he still doing here?" Alex said sounding exasperated.

Dana turned to him "Alex! He's only just woken up!" She protested before she turned back to Altair "I'm sorry, that's my brother Alex, he doesn't...trust people" She heard her brother grunt in agreement to this behind her as he decided to look out of the window to see what was going on; promptly ignoring the two. "Anyway, what did you say your name was?"

"...I didn't" Alitar said softly as he pondered if he could trust them; Dana seemed alright but the male, Alex...he reminded him a lot of himself before he'd been tasked to kill the nine Templars. "...Altair...my name is Altair" He said softly.

"Altair? Wow that's an unusual name" Dana said surprised; Altair didn't look nor sound American, his voice had a slight accent which made him sound rather exotic, couple that with tanned skin unusual, but pretty yellow eyes and a handsome face and he was defiantly a looker, though not Dana's type; he seemed the type with too many secrets, a lot like his brother.

"Where I come from? So is yours" Altair said his mouth twitching in a faint smile; this girl was more open hearted than her brother it seemed who was still ignoring them up until this point.

"Okay you made introductions, now he can go" Alex said as he focused his gaze in them sounding irritated.

"Alex!" Dana protested "He's still injured!"

"I said only ONE night!" He said with a glare to Altair as if this argument was all HIS fault; to Altair's credit, his gaze didn't waver nor did he look the least bit intimidated by the other, his strange golden eyes just stared right back into Alex's angry blue ones.

"Come on Alex let him stay a little longer" Dana said softly; she hated fighting with Alex but Her curiosity was getting the better of her "Aren't you curious?" She mumbled softly.

Altair stood slowly "I'll go...I need my clothing" he said softly; he didn't want to cause a fuss between the two siblings besides he had a feeling Dana was going to ask one too many questions anyway.

Dana turned back to him and gaped "Are you serious? Your swaying were you stand" She huffed; he was indeed swaying a little as he tried to keep focus; he had lost a lot of blood the night before and as such he still felt dizzy.

"I'll be fine, I've...endured worse" He said, speaking slowly; Altair wasn't used to speaking English like this, it was only lucky he knew some of the language, other wise there would be a major language barrier "I need to go anyway" He said; he had to find Al Mualim, and the piece of Eden before the Templars took over the world...if they hadn;t already while he;d been unconscious; the piece of Eden had SERIOUS power.

"B-But-!" She sighed; it seemed Altair was almost as stubborn as Alex "I'll be right back your cloths should be dry by now" She grumbled; she;d spent half the night scrubbing blood out of them and sewing up the holes; she felt that it was the right thing to do.

Altair said nothing more as she retreated into the laundry room to get the others cloths. Leaving Alex and Altair on their own, alone. "...My sister might have been kind enough to let you stay but I want you gone" Alex said as he approached the other; he was mildly surprised to find that he was actually SHORTER than Altar by a good few inches; however this didn't deter him from glaring down at the other "I don't know who you are but I don't want to see you around again, got it?"

"..." Altair just stared at him calmly "With that attitude you will end up alone" She said softly before he turned away from Alex (Who was actually stunned for once) as Dana walked in with his uniform "Ah, thank you" He seemed happy to see his uniform was in tact...and less happy his weapons were gone "...Where are they?"

"Oh the blades and things? Uh I forgot to pick them up, Ragland still has them; he's a doctor he helped fix you up" Dana explained softly; she bit back the urge to ask why he needed so many sharp objects on his person anyway but her brother wanted this stranger gone. NOW.

Altair tugged off the hospital gown and began dressing; thankfully he still had his old pants on so dressing wasn't a problem though ti was tricky with his injured shoulder "...Where can I...find, this...doctor?" He said softly.

"Alex can take you to him- Don't give me that look Alex I have research to do for you and I cant be in two places at once" She said when Alex seemed angry, at the fact he had to hand around with the foreign weirdo.

"...Fine" He grumbled "Follow me and done leg behind" He bit as he left out the door without another word.

Altiar watched him go he bowed at Dana in a respectful way "Thank you for all you have done, he said slowly before he followed Alex.

Dana smiled a bit "Any time!" She called before she shook her head in amusement; she had a feeling that would not be the last she had seen of Altair Ibn-La'Ahad.

* * *

First chapter is up! Okay I'm just going to say this: I have NEVER played [PROTOTYPE], I've just seen a complete play through, with all cut scenes 9Including the hidden ones) and This is my first attempt at writing for Alex, Dana and Altair.

I've plaved Assassins Creed 1 & 2 so Altiar I think I've got down quite well considering that his attitude and personality is based on right at the END of the first game so he's not so much a jerk in this one XD Enjoy anyway people!

Jade xx


	2. Q&A

Chapter 2 – Q&A

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When Altair finally got outside he gaped; this place was nothing like he;d ever seen, buildings that almost touched the sky encased in metal and glass, and even the shorter buildings were unusual they were made out of grey stone and held all sorts of stores, many Altiar had never even heard of before, let alone seen What in the name of Allah! He breathed softly in his native tongue as he looked around; he was confused and admittedly a little scared of this place; it was all alien to him and he had a hard time letting it all sink in of course by this time Alex was already half way down the street by this point; he wasn't about to wait up for the other; and he half hoped that if he want ahead he;d lose Altiar in the crowd and they wouldn't see him again.

Despite the infections in New York city some places deemed safe had been cut off from the infection, of course no one knew Alex and Dana were living amongst the rest of the human populace and Alex always did his best not to bring his work home whenever he went out, trying to stop Gentek.

He was surprised however when eh sensed someone walking alongside him; it was Altair; how the hell he'd managed to finds him in the vast crowd he didn't know but it was kind creepy. "...If your trying to lose me you'll have to do better than that" Altair said softly from under his hood.

Alex grit his teeth; this guy got on his fucking nerves; but mostly it was because he was a total enigma, he didn't know where he stood with the man but most of all Altiar wasn't afraid of him; he wasn't intimidated and he didn't know why, because even his own sister felt intimidated by him sometimes. "Shut up" Alex grumbled.

Altair's mouth twitched with a faint smile and he fell silent as he followed Alex towards the local morgue; it was a tense silence, Alex looked really tense like he was ready to punch someone at any given moment and Altiar wondered why someone like him was so stressed, of course he didn't speak further as Alex pushed the door open into Raglans morgue room "...Ragland" he spoke.

Ragland looked up in the middle of doing an autopsy, he looked form Alex to Altiar who followed him. "Ah the wanderer returns, Its good to see you up and about though admittedly you shouldn't be considering your wounds"

"I...am fine...Dana said my...weapons were here" He said slowly as he looked at the dark room it smelled strange and put Altiar on edge, naturally the corpse on the table didn't do much to ease his feelings.

"Ah right, I'll be just s moment" The doctor snapped off the bloodied rubber gloves and tossed them in a nearby disposal bin before he opened a metal locker before he returned with all of Altair's weapons "Uhm here, I have to ask why do you need all of this?"

"..." Altiar looked at him and said nothing before he started arming himself; he slid on the straps to his weapons with practised ease and smiled faintly as he armed him self with the weapons like they were old friends; he felt naked and vulnerable without his arsenal.

"You heard the doc, answer him" Alex bit; he was curious as well; to be honest he was hoping that a the weapons and the outfit were some big joke that had gone wrong, but it just didn't fit logically in his head, and the taller (1) man was too serious for this to be a joke.

"...It's..." He broke off as he frowned trying to think of the right words "...None...of your...business" He finished simply as he strapped on his gauntlets he flicked his arms out testing how smoothly the hidden blades snapped out of their hiding place before he turned to leave "Thank you" He said softly to Ragland before he left.

"...He's such a strange man...aren't you going to follow him?" Ragland asked a little surprised Alex was still stood there; leant against the wall as per usual.

The hooded male snorted "Why should I? He's not my problem"

Ragland let out a soft sigh "Alex, look I don't know who or where this guy came from, but he reminds me of you a lot; your both stubborn, and withdrawn maybe you need someone like you to open up to...and he needs you to help him around the city because dressed like he is? The military is going to catch wind of him"

"..." Alex snorted; Altiar wasn't anything to do with him...so why did Ragland's words make him want to go out and find the other before he did something stupid with that weaponry of his? Not that Altair looked stupid, far from it, but considering the possibility he might be from the past and from a different country? It meant the slight language barrier it might cause problems.

Alex glanced at Ragland who's already gone back to work; trust the good doctor to give his opinion then leave it to Alex to decide on what to do, though admittedly the hooded male usually preferred it that way; he did his own thing usually.

But this once, he knew that despite what he wanted personally, leaving a man full of sharp pointy weapons wandering around modern day New York was not the WISEST thing to do "Ugh" Alex growled to himself; wondering when he;d suddenly become the other man's babysitter as he turned and left to search for the other male and hoped he hadn't gotten too far.

* * *

Altiar was...climbing up a building and making people stare; though admittedly back home he was used to climbing up buildings and getting the same reaction; he needed a better viewpoint and thus he was climbing up a nearby building, despite the fact his arm was throbbing horribly, he endured the pain.

Alex almost face palmed when he realized what Altair was doing (Though he had to admit he was impressed the other could climb that far up and that fast without any ropes or anything to aid him, considering he has a severely fractured arm) however it was drawing too much attention and as much as Alex would love to just run up the building and grab him he didn't want to draw attention to himself; looking around he slipped into an alleyway while the crowd were still watching Altiar.

He jumped up high and grabbed the edge of the roof before he climbed up making it around about the same time as Altiar who began looking around at his new vantage point "..."

"What the hell are you doing?" Alex asked he sounded pissed off and exasperated; Altair was turning out to be stranger and stranger the longer he was around him.

Altair half turned to him "...Looking at my...surroundings...has that become a ..crime?" He said slowly and carefully but it sounded nonchalant, as if him scaling a 4 story building within a minute was nothing, he turned back to the city the building he had scaled was tall, but there were other much, much taller buildings that surrounded him "...I've never...seen a place like this" He admitted; the tall buildings and modern scenery were jarring to the man.

"Usually people don't scale the walls of a building on order to reach the roof" Alex said with a frown "Your drawing attention to yourself, attention I don't need"

"I did not ask you to follow me" Altiar pointed out his mouth set into a thin frown "You came all on your own...accord" He finished

Alex growled as he approached him and turned him around almost shoving him a little "Listen you! I don't know who you are or why your here, or whatever, but you cant go around scaling walls!" He bit "Not only that your armed to the teeth which people are going to notice seen as most people don't go around with any weapons on, and your outfit is just...stupid!"

"..." Altiar did nothing, most of his expression was hidden by the white hood. but he probably raised an eyebrow at the older man's outburst.

"If you are so curious then ask, Or is that...difficult, for you?...however... I cant guarantee I will answer all of your...questions" He said slowly as he folded his arms over his chest as he waited for the other's response to this; true it had only Dana that had asked him anything Alex had just wanted rid if him.

"...Who are you really? Why all the weapons and the weird clothing?" He said with a frown.

"...My full name is Altiar Ibn Al'Ahad, the weapons are for protection and to carry out my duty" He said simply; he hoped that this explanation would be enough for the other but he doubted it; While Dana was just plain curious, and admittedly a tad nosy; Alex seemed the type to not stop until he got to the bottom of things.

"Which is?" Alex prompted, this time it was more out of curiosity than anything; he hated to admit it but He was curious about Altair and his origins as well; they're was just too much wrong with him and his appearance NOT to get curious. "Come on, out with it, if your going to tell me something tell me everything"

He paused, as if wondering if it was a good idea to trust the other with such information, after all this place was alien to him and Alex Mercer wasn't the BEST person to hold a conversation with, but after a minute or two he told the other anyway; this yellow eyes glowed softly as he used his eagle vision; which confirmed this man was not a templar "...I am an...assassin"

Alex stared at him before he snorted in disbelief "Yeah, right and Gentek is going to let me live in peace" He grumbled to himself; he was a little insulted the other was trying to fool him with such a ridiculous answer "Your lying, there's no such thing as assassins!"

"What about Templars?" Altiar asked curiously "Have you heard of them?"

Alex paused as he searched Alex's memories; he vaguely remembered learning about it in school, then again he- no, Alex had never been fond of History "Sure I have, I think everyone studies about the templars at some point in school, and about the holy crusades...why what difference does it make?" He said

"...ah" There was silence before Altair spoke again "Whatever you know of the templars, its a lie" He said softly.

Alex blinked from under his hood...okay that was the last thing he was expecting to hear considering he didn't know where this was going "What do you mean?" Why the heck does it matter?"

"...What year is it?" he asked suddenly changing the whole conversation and turning it on it;s head; he didn't want to talk about the Templars, not yet it would be revealing too much.

"What! You don't know what year it is?" Alex grumbled.

"Just answer the question!" Altair bit; he had a sinking feeling in his gut; he'd had it since he'd left Ragland's; that it wasn't only some strange country the piece of Eden had transported him to but to another time too.

"...Its 24th August 2008" Alex replied after a moment, surprised at the usually stoic man's outburst and demands to know such a thing.

"...2008?...I moved forward that long? Impossible" He said softly to himself; if he was in 2008 that that meant he'd travelled over 800 years forward in time!

Alex noticed colour drain form the others tanned face and frowned; okay he wasn't expecting a reaction like THAT "...hey what's the problem?"

"The problem is I'm stuck in the...the" He struggled to say the right word for a moment "The future!" He continued to curse in Arabic which meant the other didn't have a clue what he was saying as he started to pace around muttering to himself.

"...Wait, wait, your telling me, your from the PAST?" He said half of him wasn't surprised; because as crazy as it sounded his brain had logically clarified that that was the only possible conclusion other then Altair being a deranged mad man in cosplay. The other half of him was...strangly excited and curious despite himself. "...What year did you live in? And where... Before you came here I mean"

"In Jerusalem...in 1195...during the...third crusade" He said softly struggling to say some words properly in English; it was a miracle he'd carried a conversation this long.

Alex stared; that was...a LONG time "...You really are a long way from home... He said softly; wow he almost felt SORRY for the other how weird was that! "...Come on" He said softly.

"...Where?"

"...Dana is going to be smug when we get back..." He muttered to himself "Your coming back with me- Not because I feel sorry for you, but its probably safer for the public that way" He said softly.

"..." Altiar said nothing for a moment before his mouth twitched and spread into a smiled "lead the way then, Alex" he said softly the others name sounded strange, but he liked the way it rolled off his tongue.

Alex grunted softy before he turned and jumped off the building, knowing that Altiar was following him closely.

He just hoped Dana didn't rub his change of heart in his face too much.

* * *

2nd chapter done! Wow two in one week! I'm defiantly on a roll XD I did my best to correct all my horrible misspelling of Altair's name (I miss spell it ALL the time . and make sure any typos were cleaned up! Enjoy and leave a comment!

Alex Mercer is 29 in Prototype, and as far as I know in AC1 Altiar is about 26; also Altair happens to be taller than Alex, Altair being around 6 foot and Alex around 5 foot 8 inches; which I find hilarious XD.


	3. Adjustments

Chapter 3- Adjustments

* * *

When Dana realized her brother had brought Altair back, she was VERY amused and had a hard time not laughing in Alex's face; despite Altair voluntary leaving out into the big wide and very modern world, her brother had decided to drag him back here despite his insistence he wanted Altiar gone which was a contradiction in itself really, sometimes what Alex DID and what he said were two completely different things.

"Ahem Nice to see you again Altair,did you have a nice walk?" She said as she forced herself not to grin like an idiot; Altair had only been gone an hour, two tops before Alex had decided to bring him back.

"You don't need to look so smug" Alex grumbled to himself as he sat down on the dark sofa on the far side of the room; his arms over his chest; if he wasn't a full grown man and the Blacklight virus, he;d probably pout; just a bit. He didn't want Altiar around he never had, but apparently, he was from the past he had a cache of weapons on his person, he couldn't trust Altiar to not draw attention to himself; assassin he may be but his cloths are NOT going to blend into modern society.

"I'm not smug! I'm just right, I knew you;d bring him back" She said with a soft chuckle" Okay Altair: First things first; We need to now CHANGE your cloths; You probably noticed one out there you don't fit in at all so I actually picked out some of my friends cloths for you to wear so you can blend in- oh and take the weapons off in the house, if your going to stay that's one of the rules okay?"

"...Your talking all this rather well" He said to her as he reluctantly; granted she did not know that he had travelled forward in time yet but she didn't seem disturbed by all the weapons; sighing he began handing her his sword, dagger and other weapons.

"I have Alex for a brother I'm used to the weird and wonderful" She replied dryly before she raised an eyebrow "And the hidden blades" she said making a 'gimmie' notion with her hands.

"..." Altiar sighed and obeyed, unstrapping it from his wrist and handing the gauntlet over to her; he didn't know why he was obeying, maybe because if it wasn't for her and Alex he'd be lost in a city he didn't know or understand; he didn't have a plan or a place to stay so he had no choice but to comply with her wishes.

Dana looked a the bundle of weapons (Which were heavier than they looked; how the heck could he carry all this around!) and smiled a tiny bit "Okay I'll store these somewhere" She said before he left the room probably to keep them in a place not easily found yet easily acssessable in case the Military or hunters turn up.

Again, this meant leaving Altiar and Alex, alone; the two of them were silent, which grew more and more awkward as time passed. "...Thank you" Altiar said slowly after a rather long pause; he supposed he should be grateful Alex let him stay at all.

"Don;t thank me its not going to be a permanent thing, under stood?" the older man said softly with a soft grunt "it's temporary until you get used to the modern world or you go back to wherever you came from, I don't really care which one happens first" He grunted; okay that wasn't the whole truth; he was curious about the other but that didn't mean he had to CARE about him.

Altiar regarded him for a moment before he sat down on the other side if the couch his hands laced together his head down, as he slid into thought about the man next to him; anything but the fact he didn't feel safe; he was so used to having his weapons with him it was alien to have them taken away willingly "...Why do you not trust people?" He asked quietly; attempting to make a conversation; Alex Mercer was a mystery, he hoped he could get some sort of insight into why Alex was the way he was.

"Because I'm hunted" Alex responded quietly; he wasn't about to give the other much more of an answer than that; even that might be too much information.

"Hmm, I...understand, how that feels" He said softly a faint smile twitching at his mouth; he remembered all the times the Templars has chased him off the rooftops of Jerusalem and done leap of faiths into the hay to hide; he sort of missed that, the rush of adrenaline the feeling of the wind whipping past his cloths as he fell... "To be hunted for what you are...I ...understand that" He said softly as he looked to Alex, who just looked passive and stony as he had before, before he broke off softly as he looked back down at the floor.

Dana returned looking pleased with herself "Okay that's done, I suppose if your staying I should show you around once you've gotten changed..." She said as she led Altiar to the spare bedroom for him to change; the whole process took a lot longer than a few minutes because Dana had to explain to the poor man what boxers were and what a zipper was and what it's function; Altiar wasn't used to modern clothing at all and it just felt alien and uncomfortable on him; it made him feel antsy. "..."

"Are you done Altair?" Dana asked; the assassin didn't answer her at first as he tugged on the sleeves; no matter what he did it didn't feel right; the comfortable weight where his hidden blade rested on his arm felt light and strange; this world was going to take a lot of getting used to.

"Almost" he said; Dana had picked out his cloths and seemed to have guessed his size because the dark blue Jeans she had gotten him to war were loose on him and hung low on his hips; the boxers he wore felt restricting as hell (He made a mental note to never wear them again); the only thing that seemed to fit was the hoodie; which was a pale grey with some sort of logo on the back he didn't recognize; at least with his face hidden he felt a little more comfortable; it wasn't much, but it was something.

The assassin sighed; he supposed he would have to adapt to this new environment, to this future he'd been thrust into, and he would have to cope with the cloths, maybe over time he;d get used to them, but honestly more than anything Altair wanted to go home; he missed it, he missed the hot days and the cool nights, the meetings at Maysaf, his fellow assassins, eating together in the academy, talking and laughing together, his bickering with Malik, and his missions...Altiar sat on the bed and rubbed at his face as a sense of homesickness washed over him; he never thought he would miss his homeland so much...

"Altair?" Dana peeked inside and saw him rubbing his face "...are you alright?" she asked concerned; she sorta guessed Altiar wasn't from this time period from when she first got a good look at him, but it was confirmed when talked with Alex a moment ago, who just flat out said that Altiar was apparently from the 12th century; Alex might have found it hard to believe but Dana believed it, she didn't know why she was quick to believe Altair's story but she did and she felt sorry for him; having such a time jump and being thrust into a world so much different to his own must have been hard.

She wondered if she should sit with him, try to comfort him some how but she didn't move; Altair and Alex seemed to have a few things in common; one of them being they liked their own space, even in times of turmoil; they did things their own way even if it got them into trouble...she was sure it was better just to wait for him to respond.

I want to go home He whispered to himself; he knew Dana and Alex couldn't understand him; no one in this odd country did! "..." He looked up to see if Dana had left; to his surprise she was still there leaning against the doorway watching him a mixture of confusion and sympathy in her eyes.

"...I'm fine" He said softly; he was a lie but it made him feel better; he needed to keep focus in order to find a way home. He stood up slowly and followed her into the living room where Alex almost had to do a double take as he stared at the other; wow he almost looked normal! His eyes looked Altair; up and down and he felt something ripple under his skin; the virus was acting odd bit Alex ignored it it was probably nothing.

"...So...what do we do now?" he said as he looked around the room there was so much in this room he did NOT understand. At all.

Dana chuckled "Oh boy we have a LOT to teach you..." She said softly.

Dana (Grudgingly followed by Alex) led Altair around the apartment showing him the modern day conveyances of the 21st century, a lot of it Altair was freaked out by though he kept his anxiety mostly well hidden; he freaked out the most about the TV which he thought was made out of magic and the microwave; every time Altiar was surprised by something his left hand twitched as if willing for a hidden blade to flick out that he didn't have.

Needless to say Dana was glad she'd hidden his weapons or half of the utilities in the house would be broken she was sure.

"Amazing" Altiar whispered as he turned the tap in the bathroom on and off again a few times in awe; running water in the 12th century just didn't exist; it was get water from the well or cactus juice (Which Altair hated, but it was better than dying when travelling long distances)

The new technology in the future both awed and frightened him; technology and science had moved so fast and far in 800 years! Despite his homesickness he was amazed at all the things he had seen so far and that was just inside the apartment; he memories everything he could; perhaps he could take his knowledge from the future back home with him, discuss it with Malik who was by far the brightest man he had ever known.

"Its just running water" Alex grumbled but Dana nudged him to keep him quiet; it wasn't the younger man's fault that he hadn't seen anything like this before; to her and Alex is was common, something you didn't even think about let alone get amazed over, but to Altair, she was sure it was a big thing.

"How...does it work?" He asked turning to them.

"Well there's pipes under ground that feed water through the taps, the water gets filtered before it come through the taps which is why its so clear" She said with a soft smile Altiar pondered this before he nodded at that as he turned the water off again; yes defiantly something to tell Malik when he got home.

Dana felt amused by all of Altair's questions; he was an intelligent man despite his difficulties with English, quiet and thoughtful after each question, always planning out what to ask next; he was quiet, reserved, a lot like Alex only it seemed he was not as withdrawn as the other nor did he have the same sociopathic tendencies.

All in all it was safe to say she was warming to the assassin; the same could not be said for her brother it seemed who had been quiet and sullen all evening. Dana coughed softly "Uhm well its getting late I'm sure your hungry uhm I'm not sure what to make you"

"Anything, is fine" Altair said as he looked at her; he wasn't a picky eater especially when he had to leave off humus and grain most of the time; he hoped that the food here was better than at home (One thing he wouldn't miss: Malik's cooking, he swore the man made it bad on purpose sometimes)

"Alright then, Alex-"

"I'm not Hungry...I'm going out" He said softly; Dana fully knew what that meant, he was going back out into the red zone, back into the infected areas, no doubt to try and track down Greene and stop her for good, to fix his own mistake of letting her free in the first place.

"But-" Too late, Alex turned and left the bathroom and by the time Altair and Dana followed him he was gone the only thing that indicted where he'd gone was them opened window he;d left open the curtain blowing gently in the breeze. "Alex..." Dana sighed softly; she guessed something would never change, walking over she closed the window but left it unlocked having no doubt that if Alex didn't climb in through the window he'd come down from the roof; Alex tried not to use doors if he could help it.

"He...does that a lot?" He asked softly; he could tell, just by the way the dark haired women's shoulders sagged a bit hoe disheartening it was to see her brother run off like that, Dana turned to him and nodded a sad smile on her face "He's...trying to right wrongs...and remember who he is" she said.

"...he...can not...remember?" He asked surprised

Dana nodded "Yes...its a long story but...my big brother...he...he isn't human any more...its very hard to explain...

"Dana...I, have all the time, in the world...tell me, about your brother" he said softly; he didn't know why he wanted to know so much about Alex Mercer, all he knew that his curiosity and thirst for knowledge compelled him to ask about Dana's brother.

The dark haired women smiled softly ""I will, but dinner comes first!" She said with a soft smile feeling cheered up already as she went to make dinner, nothing fancy just some spaghetti bolognase when they sat down together to eat on the small work surface that was used as a table as well as a work surface; it was nice, for Dana to be able to sit and eat with someone, to talk with them and not be worried for 15 minutes, about whether Gentek was around the corner to snatch her brother away.

As promised she told Altiar all she knew, she didn't delve much into their child hood (1); in fact she barely brushed in the subject; it was a sensitive topic for her and probably even more so for Alex, who barely remembered who he was. She skipped to the part where Alex became a scientist, an expert in genetics (She explained genes were what made up a person, what they looked like hoe tall they were etc, it was what made human being human) she said that she worked for a company called Gentek and he became head of a top secret project called Blacklight ("My Brother has always been paranoid; its one of his many bad habits? She had said) and then at some point Alex had died and been reborn with the virus, though he couldn't remember how or why he got a hold of it.

"-and when he woke up, it was in a morgue- you know a place where they examine dead people? Anyway the military have been after him ever since" She said softly; she had tried to give Altiar a shortened version of what had happened to Alex but even that had taken at least an hour, considering Altair knew very little of science, or the world in general.

"So...He is...not human any more he is this...virus?" He said trying to wrap his mind around what Dana had told him; it wasn't as if he feared Alex nor was he disturbed by what he was told; he just found it hard to believe Alex was not a human being because he hadn't seen any of his powers yet, however Dana was not a lair and he knew she was telling the truth.

Altiar's mouth twitched into a smile; he wasn't exactly fully human either...eagle vision was not a human trait after all. "When...will he be back?"

"Who knows? Sometimes he can be gone for days on end" Dana said softly as she picked at her food "He doesn't eat and he never sleeps, it's not that he don't need to, its more that he cant, he told me that he...can consume people take in their identities...it disturbed me, it scared me but, I know that he's still my brother...but he has headaches...i can hear him mumbling to himself; he says he can hear vices, and they stop him from sleeping"

"He...is haunted by demons..." Altiar said softly; he almost shivered a bit as he remembered the nine spirits of the Templars that he had killed, the ones Al Maulim made to appear, and had forced him to fight them by using the piece of Eden "..." He fell into thought for a moment before he went back to eating.

The rest of the meal was spent mostly in silence the two of them both had a lot on their minds, Dana was mostly thinking about her brother, while Altiar was thinking about his home.

One the meal was over Dana excused herself and retreated to her bedroom trusting Altair to be fine on his own, Altiar; walked around; he felt restless, and uneasy in the apartment; his eyes wandered over to the kitchen and tot he coffee machine...Dana had mentioned coffee before, she had been drinking it this morning; such a strange beverage piqued his curiosity and decided to try and make a cup.

And hour later and he still didn't know what to do; he didn't want to ask Dana in case she was busy so he sighed in frustration; why wasn't this thing working?

"...have you put the coffee in?" a voice behind him asked he half turned; sure enough there was Alex; he didn't seem any worse for wear as he leaned on the doorway, and he actually sounded amused by Altair's frustration "..." He just blinked at Alex not sure what he was talking about.

Alex sighed before he stepped forward he opened the cupboard bringing out a small bag full of ground coffee, the younger male watched Alex pull out a section of the machine and put the coffee in it before he put it back before he fiddled with it a bit then pressed the button.

Almost instantly the machine let out a muffled frothing sound as it started to work and a steaming black liquid that smelled odd to him, but it wasn't unpleasant. Once the machine stopped working Alex handed him the cup "You want milk with that?"

"...I don't know" He said honestly he had never had coffee before, he pulled the cup up to his lips and took a tentative sip; the hot bitter liquid slid down his throat and he blinked in surprise; while bitter it wasn't bad it was rather nice, smooth and rich with that bitter tang lingering on his tongue "Maybe I shall try it with milk" He said as Alex handed the carton over (Which perplexed Altair but he managed to open it without help) he poured some into the cup and tried it again; he smiled a little that tasted much better. "Not bad" He said as he leant against the counter and sipped it "...where did you go?" He asked he doubted that Alex would tell him given his nature but it was worth a try.

As he suspected the amused almost-smile on Alex;s face slipped and his eyes gre hard and cold "Its none of your business" He said before he turned and left the kitchen, leaving the assassin alone with his coffee.

Altiar; let out a soft sight; ah well, at least Alex helped him with this dark stuff...what did Alex call it? Coffee? At least he helped him with that, maybe they would eventually get along the more Alex got used to him.

Altiar smirked a little; he couldn't wait to find out; after all he was probably going to be here a lot longer than Alex expected.

Okay Im done! ^^ Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If anyone cared to actually look up Alex's past on the prototype Wiki, it says he spent the first 10 years of his childhood in care, then the rest of this time with his mother and baby Dana, though he claims he preferred being in care and was a borderline sociopath by the time he was in university doing a degree in genetics.


	4. Escape

Chapter 4 – Escape

* * *

Days passed and turned into weeks, and Altair still found modern day life in the 21st century to be quite overwhelming; staying in Alex and Dana's apartment would still take a while for him to fully adjust to and get comfortable with modern day life. The first step was to, naturally get more comfortable with the language, while he had managed to hold up a conversation, Altair's English still had a long way to go, what was worse is Altiar couldn't read a single thing in English either.

"You can't read?" Dana had asked the third day Altair had been living there; she had noticed he; had been struggling to read words on the food and always asked what things where; which Alex found to be irritating as hell and tended to disappear for hours on end leaving Dana to deal with the confused Arabian assassin, eventually he admitted (and this was a hard thing for him to admit; after all he was meant to be an intelligent assassin, it was hard for him to admit he had a major weakness even though it was something as simple as a language barrier) that couldn't read English at all.

"I can read...just...not in your...language" He mumbled; a little offended; its not like he was illiterate, after all he could read and write in Arabic just fine, he had just never been taught to read and write in English; there seemed to be little point back in the 12th century other than to pick up a few phrases; Altiar had learned more than that naturally when he went on reconnaissance missions and heard Templar guards jabber on in English all day about one thing or another, so he knew more then most but it still wasn't enough.

Dana sighed a bit "Well I guess we should make a start then start from the basics, you'll pick it up on the way I'm sure" She said as she set aside the work she was doing for Alex ans started to help him improve; they started with the basic alphabet in reading and writing and moved on to words.

Dana was a surprisingly patient teacher and she let him learn in his own time, she wasn't surprised, however that he learned English quite quickly and soon he was able to write short words correctly in English.

By the time Altiar had been with the Mercers for two weeks he'd gotten the hang of the alphabet and was writing out random words out in English in order to practise; he assured Dana that he;d be fine experimenting on his own and let her get on with Alex's research...whatever that was; neither of the Mercers would tell them what was going on, and he felt Dana was simply trying to protect him while Alex was plain being paranoid.

While Altair's reading and writing was slowly improving Altiar quickly adjusted to the machines in the house namely the coffee machine and the TV; soon after being introduced to coffee Altiar quickly became hooked on the stuff and soon it wasn't uncommon to find the other with a cup of coffee in his hands while he sat and marvelled at the moving pictures most of the time.

"D.a.n.a" He mumbled as he wrote each word down individually he glanced at the paper that Dana had printed out with the English alphabet to make sure he'd spelled it right, He smiled, satisfied he;d gotten it right; on the other hand her name was short and simple and easy to write.

After a pause he began to write again slowly...

" Your still at it?" A voice behind him said Altiar wasn't used to being startled he spun around his left hand twitched in reaction, but it was just Alex who didn't seem amused.

"I'm...practising, is that a problem?" He said as he looked up at the other from under his hood; he refused to take it down in the house; he felt more comfortable this way and he had told Dana so as well and thankfully she had dropped it; Dana was sweet but sometimes she was too nosy for her own good.

Alex said nothing, his eyes wandered to the paper Altair was writing on he;d been practising as he had said and he noticed what words Altiar was writing; mainly he;d been spelling the names of people and things he;d seen since he;d been here; Ragland ,Dana, coffee, TV, couch, taps, water, to name a few...and it seemed he had almost finished writing another word :Ale-

Alex frowned it didn't take much to figure out Altiar was writing his name down; he felt a tiny ripple wash over him as the Virus trembled unknowingly but again, he ignored it; it wasn't anything to be thought over in his mind "...Whatever" He said a she turned around and moved back to Dana; they always talked in hushed tones around him about...whatever it was Alex was off doing at all hours of the day and night.

Altiar; would be lying if he said he wasn't curious and honestly he was a little tired of being cramped inside of the apartment, his instincts screamed at him to go out and explore the city but Dana wouldn't let that happen while she was keeping an eye on him and he didn't want to leave without at LEAST his hidden blade on him for safety; it's not like he would go out and kill innocents; it was against his creed, but neither of the Mercer's knew that; even though Altair had admitted to both that he was an assassin in his time he hadn't divulged anything more than that.

Perhaps it was simply a matter of trust on both sides; the Mercers had their secrets and he had his.

The younger assassin looked down at the words he;d written before he set the pen down on the glass coffee table with a soft clink of plastic touching metal; he had grown tired of practising, eh took a deep breath before he stood up; he wanted to find his weapons, or at lease sneak on his hidden blade and armour underneath the hoodie he wore.

He noticed Dana and Alex were busy so he slipped off silently into the kitchen, knowing neither of then noticed he;d gone; he WAS an assassin after all stealth was his expertise.

It then occurred to Altiar, that had no real idea where Dana could have hidden his weapons; only that she had passed the kitchen and gone down the hallway and turned down the hallway that led to her room and Alex's room; Frowning at this he sighed and decided to try his luck but for his own sake he hoped the weapons were in Dana's room because he didn't want to think about what would happen if Alex caught him messing around in there; Alex liked his privacy, that in itself was obvious and he knew the man was...not human, as Dana had explained and he never slept; the best time to search for his weapons was now when both Alex and Dana were distracted with each other.

Altiar slipped into Dana's room first after finding the door unlocked; upon closing the door behind him, his rough tongue slid over his dry lips nervously; where to search first?; it was times like this he wished his Eagle vision would help with such things, but unfortunately it only worked on people not weapons, nor did it work through walls or objects.

Slowly he began searching in the most obvious places; under the bed, in the wardrobe etc; but there was no sign if his weapons at all; and the longer it take to look the more anxious he got; no doubt Dana would soon notice and come looking for him.

He knew it would have been better to probably just ASK for his weapons but then he;d need to explain to her why he wanted them and he really didn't want to get into it; there were too many questions he didn't want to answer; if he answered her question about the weapons he;d have to explain he wanted to train and if she asked why he;d have tot tell her it was habit; then she;d keep on at the questions until he had nothing left to tell her.

He knew she wasn't with the Templars but that didn't mean they weren't out there in the 21st century; he only hoped that the assassins in this day and age had survived as well.

Speaking of assassins...once he got used to the 'In-teer-net' that Dana seemed to like so much he might try to see if he could find any sort of information regarding them; there had to be a clue somewhere in it, after all Dana had explained the internet as being the 'biggest digital library in the world'

Shaking his head he decided to get back to the 'mission' at hand; he needed to find his weapons before he went insane! After another 10 minutes of fruitless searching he deducted that his weapons were NOT in here which meant (He grimaced a tad under his hood) That he'd have to search Alex's room next.

Slipping out of Dana;s room he shuffled back to the living area to check on the two Mercers; they were still whispering to each other; obviously deep in conversation to notice him; confident the two wouldn't see he he slipped back towards Alex room and after quietly turning the door handle, he slipped inside.

Once he was inside he sighed in relief before he looked around Alex room was...plain, it was like no one actually slept here, the bed looked untouched. Which didn't surprise him considering Dana said the man didn't sleep but it just looked so bare, the tanned man felt a little sorry for Alex; he didn't have any hobbies, he didn't have any goals other than; from what he'd heard from Dana; destroy the company that made him the way he is.

Altiar shook his head he needed to find his weapons he could think about Alex later; maybe later he could sneak out and run around on the rooftops for a bit; he missed his freedom to do such things.

Altiar was thankful Alex;s room was so bare because it left him with few options with which to look for his weapons and he grinned when he found then under the bed. The first thing he did was yank up the sleeve of his foodie and strapped the gauntlet to his wrist before covering it, once her did that he was about to reach on the bed for his other weapons...

When something...or someone grabbed him and slammed him into the nearest wall, Altair grunted as he had the wind knocked out of him and he grimaced in agony when he felt his fractured shoulder scream in pain under the pressure of...tentacles! Altiar gaped as he followed the line of dark black and red tendrils all the way to a VERY pissed looking Alex Mercer.

Had Altair been a normal man, had he not stared death in the face so many times he was no longer scared of it, then perhaps he might had been terrified and shitting himself in front of the other, instead he squirmed in his grip, trying to get free before Alex unknowingly crushed his ribs.

"What the FUCK do you think your DOING!" the older man demanded; each time Alex emphasised a word the tendrils around him would tighten and spread further along Altair's body, down his arms and legs pinning him and making it hard to move.

Altair grimaced softly under his hood, and squirmed, continuing to struggle despite the burning pain in his right arm; he'd had worse pains and thus, he ignored it "...I was looking for my weapons" He said before he had had enough of being pinned; he smirked as he heard the satisfying 'shink' sound as his blade activated, before he sliced the large tendril clean off him.

Alex let out a yelp of surprise more than actual pain as the tendril part that he'd cut off writhed about on the floor and flopped about a bit like a fish out of water, before sliding across the floor back to Alex and merging with his body. "You, are in serious shit" The older male hissed before he changed his body again his arms turning into gigantic claws; it was obvious he was angry at Altiar invading his privacy but then he made things worse and pretty much attacked him.

Okay NOW Altiar was feeling a little intimidated; this claws looked big and sharp...Altair tensed ready to jump out the window if Alex tried anything; his hidden blade was good but not THAT good, and he'd take jumping out the window to fighting with the other without his full arsenal.

"What the hell are you both doing!" Dana asked from the doorway ; she had heard Alex shouting and had come to see what all the fuss was about, naturally she got freaked out when she saw Alex waving his claws around "Put those away will you!" She huffed as she nudged Alex though it was much like her trying to nudge a brick wall. She blinked in surprise when she spotted the assassin hovering near the window "Altair what are you doing in here?"

"..." He didn't really want to explain himself but Alex still looked angry despite the fact he;d done as his sister had asked and let his claws melt away, he knew it probably wouldn't take much for the other to rip him limb from limb with his bare hands.

"You hid my weapons in here...I went looking for them that's all" Altiar said softly as if that explained everything as he looked out of the window almost longingly; he wanted to go out and have some freedom, he wasn't used to being trapped in a cage.

"You could have just asked" Dana said with a sigh sounding exasperated

"You hid his weapons in MY room!" Alex protested with a blink as he turned to Dana "Why MY room!

"I didn't think he'd actually be sneaky enough to come in here and find them did I?" Dana huffed softly and Altiar almost frowned at her and gave her a look as if to say ' I'm an assassin, what did you expect?' She knew what he did for a living, or perhaps, maybe he didn't quite believe him to be what he claimed to be, it wouldn't surprise him somehow, considering she was Alex's sister and both the Mercers seemed to be sceptics.

Altiar faintly wondered if he could slip away while both Mercers were having a heated discussion about him, but no such luck as both their attentions snapped back to him the moment he tried to open the window.

"Where do you think your going?" Dana asked with a raised eyebrow as she folded her arms over her chest.

"...out, I need...space" He said as he pointed to the window; he needed the freedom, he needed the wind blowing in his face as much as he needed to breath air in to fill his lungs; being inside the apartment after two weeks was beginning to make him feel claustrophobic, and he didn't need ANOTHER phobia to add onto the fact he had a fear of large bodies of water, not that Alex ot Dana knew that...yet.

"Out? You don't even know where your going! Its a maze out there! New York is a big place" She huffed "You can;t leave, your not ready to face the modern world Altiar and not only that what if you meet a hunter? You could be in serious trouble" Alex was about ready to agree with Dana; even though he'd (And Alex grudgingly admitted this) made exceptional progress with his reading and writing and even his vocabulary he still knew very little of the modern world beyond the apartment.

"That's what I wanted my weapons for" Altiar bit; it was partially a lie; he wanted to train too but he had wanted them for his own protection too; these 'hunter' creatures Dana had told him about seemed monstrous, like demons spawned form hell itself.

"...I don't get lost" Altiar bit feeling a tad insulted when she mentioned New York being a maze; true that he had a lot to learn in this modern age but he wasn't incapable of going off for some fresh air and remembering which building to return to! Before Dana could protest further, Altiar had had enough, he yanked open the window and climbed out before he started climbing upwards

"Wha- Hey get back here!" Dana protested after getting over her initial surprise that Altiar just climbed out the window that was 5 stories high above the ground. She ran over to the window and looked up, to her amazement Altiar was already at the roof and was climbing over the edge "Jesus he's like a monkey!" She grumbled. "A stubborn, grumpy monkey with a lot of weapons" She huffed.

"...I don't blame him, you have had him locked up in the apartment for two weeks" Alex grunted softly.

"Well MAYBE if you agree to take him with you on recon he wouldn't be escaping out the window" Dana argued "If he went out with you Id be at ease that he;d be learning about the area and that the two of you would be safe; but your just as bad as each other! Just as stubborn as each other, and NEITHER of you use doors if you can help it!" She huffed.

Alex rolled his eyes "Let me guess; you want me to follow him" He bit, sarcasm dripping from every word as he rolled his eyes "I'm not his baby sitter Dana, he's a grown man and he KILLED people for a living I doubt he's going to get into any trouble" He growled.

Dana opened her mouth to protest, but she knew Alex was right, Altiar was a fully grown man, his wounds he'd received when he first got here had healed over, and Alex had mentioned that he claimed to be an assassin though Dana didn't really believe it; even with the large assortment of weapons he had...it just seemed...hard for her to grasp.

"...Can you at least take the rest of his weapons to him? Please? To ease my mind?" She asked as she plucked the rest of Altair's weapons from under Alex's bed and handed them to him with a pleading look, one she knew he would not ignore.

"...Fine, I'm getting sick of running after him Dana" He grumbled as he snatched the bundle of weapons up annoyed he'd been suckered into to doing something for Dana yet again (Usually he didn't mind, but when it came to Altiar it annoyed him, and he couldn't fathom or understand what it was that made him crumble underneath her gaze at all)

"I know..." She said as Alex decided to follow Altiar out the same window "Alex..." She saw her brother pause "...Be careful out there...and thank you"

"..." He didn't answer her he just nodded before he slipped out of the window, taking care to closing it after him before he disappeared from view after the run away assassin.

* * *

Altair inhaled a lungful of air; it felt strange inhaling New york Air it had a strange tinge to it, that Altiar didn't realize was from pollution, even so it was still better than being all cramped up in the apartment; he looked around the roof of the building he;d picked to meditate and relax on for a while.

It was bare, and pretty big with fencing all around the edges to stop people falling off; to Altiar it was the perfect training grounds for improving on his skills...if he had all of his weapons that is, which he didn't.

Altiar frowned under his head as he flicked out his hidden blade; he supposed he was lucky he'd gotten out of there with at least one of his weapons; the hidden blade was a comforting weight on his arm and just having it made him feel a lot better.

He jumped a little when a pile was dumped at his feet, upon closer inspection he found it was his weapons "..." He looked up at Alex who didn't seem best pleased with having to run after the other "... Thank you" He said as he stood slowly and began arming himself; it was a little odd considering he was putting his weapons on over the modern cloths Dana had lent him.

"Mhmm" Alex grunted softly as he walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down at the people below, all unaware and going about their own lives...in a way he envied them; free to walk about in public without fear someone would recognize him "...I cant say I'm happy with having to baby sit you...but I understand the need to get out and have some space" He said softly

"...I am...grateful to you and Dana, but I never...asked for either of you to treat me like a child" He bit softly "I need my freedom" He said calmly as he began playing with a throwing knife tossing it in the air absently and catching it with ease.

"...Come on, you have your weapons you might as well make yourself useful" He grumbled; he personally couldn't believe he was actually taking up Dana;s suggestion from earlier; Altiar would slow him down and generally be a pain...but Dana was right about how it'd be good for him to get out of the apartment get to know the area.

Altiar raised an eyebrow "You expect me to follow you?" he asked as he watched Alex step on the edge of the building, he half turned to Altiar and watched him

"Its up to you, you wanna see this city or not?" He asked simply; he personally knew carrying the other around wouldn't exactly be the highlight of his day but he knew if he didn't, he;d end up leaving Altair behind and then Dana would get mad at him for being a jerk.

Altair was silent for a long moment before he sighed "Alright" He said softly as he walked over to Alex and looked down "So...What now?" He blinked in alarm when Altiar wrapped an arm around his waist he crouched down a little as power built in his legs.

"Now? You hold on" Alex said; for the firs time in weeks Alex actually smiled, before he jumped high in the air; Altiar, for the firs time in his life felt terrified of being in the air and his hands gripped a hold of Alex's jacket in a white knuckle grip at first, once he got used to Alex jumping he relaxed a little and took in his surroundings; for the first time since he got here he could almost see the whole of New York.

Alex looked down at Altiar when his grip relaxed; there was so much wide eyed wonder in the younger man's eyes, it was almost like looking at an awe struck child and for a moment Alex didnt mind he was carrying the other along with him.

But only got a moment, after all Altiar was just staying with them until he got used to the modern world...right?


	5. Recon

Chapter 5- Reconnaissance

* * *

Ever since the incident with Altair's weapons, the younger man had been more at ease and seemed more relaxed now that every time Alex went out on reconnaissance; he would allow Altiar to accompany him (Much to Dana's surprise; after all it was odd that Alex was trusting the other enough to actually 'hang out' with him after all supposed 'dislike' Alex had had against the other) and would jump from building to building carrying the younger assassin.

The mental image alone about this scene was comical enough but imagine Altair's frightened face the first few times Alex jumped around with the man in his arms and it gets downright hilarious. Altiar had known of course, that Alex wasn't human and other than changing his hands into claws he didn't know the full extent of the others abilities but it seemed jumping really fucking high was to be added to that list.

Once Altair got used to Alex's way of getting around he relaxed and even started to enjoy this alternative method, of course this way meant that more than once, Alex got spotted by an Apache helicopter who would open fire on them.

The first time this happened was about two weeks after Alex had allowed Altiar to come out on Recon, in search of hunters with him; so far on their watches there had been no hunters, much to Altair's disappointment who, even though the creatures sounded horrid, he still wanted to see one; it was just the sort of man Altiar was; he wanted to see things for himself.

The Helicopter itself had probably just being doing the rounds around the quarantined city when ti spotted Alex.

Altiar called the helicopter a demon and did the most logical thing; run and fucking hide; how was he to know it wasn't a demon but actually a machine? (Not until Alex explained it to him later anyway) Alex dispatched of it rather easily though as he tore off a large fuse box and threw it at the helicopter downing it almost instantly.

"W-what the...what was that!" Altair asked wide eyed; he wasn't shocked at Alex displays of brute strength; no, he was used to that already but helicopters? He wasn't used to them at all. "W-what on Allah's green earth was that!" He yelled as the Helicopter caught on fire as he fell to the ground like as tone.

"That was trouble, we need to keep moving" Alex said with a dark frown as he grabbed Altair and pulled him to him pressing their bodies close together as he jumped off the building landing in an alleyway "Stay here I'll deal with the military"

Altiar frowned at that; he didn't like the idea of Alex just dealing with all those people on his own "I want to help" He protested as he made to follow the other

"You'll get in the way!" Alex snapped as he turned on him his blue eyes flashing angrily at him "Your fancy blade cannot stop bullets! Now stay here!" He growled before he ran off before Altair could protest.

The others words stung at Altair's pride; true these bullet things seemed unstoppable but Altair wasn't completely defenceless; he was a trained killer for Allah's sake! Altiar growled softly and resisted the urge to go after the other, instead he did as he was told and waited, much to his annoyance.

Altiar must have been there no longer than a few minutes when he heard a faint growling to the left of him; he turned slowly his whole body tensed the hairs on the back of his neck pricking up in anticipation as he saw; there in the shadows was a large monster, it was crouching on all fours and almost filled up all the space in the alleyway, even on all fours it was almost as tall as Altiar was and its muscle mass was huge; it had rows of razor sharp teeth and deadly looking claws; its skin had a purple/pink tinge to it.

The Hunter looked hungry and Altiar was in the menu.

Altiar glared, so this was the Hunter that Dana and Alex had warned him about? He thought the creature would have more teeth and claws but he supposed he should he lucky the monster had weak spots he could exploit; even so he knew he had to be careful; these things could infect him and turn him into an infected human if he wasn't careful, he didn't risk trying to run, he knew this creature was probably faster than him despite its size "...Lets play" He growled; there was only one way out of this; fight and win.

The Hunter let out a blood curdling roar, before it charged down the alleyway at Altiar, hoping to knock him to the floor; Altiar jump up a garbage dumpster before he jumped up, over the Creatures charge; his hidden blade flicked out on one hand his dagger on the other hand; he thrust his dagger down into the Hunters back avoiding the putrid blood as it sprayed everywhere.

The hunter roared in pain and tried to shake Altair off, but there wasn't any room in the alleyway for him to try and shake the assassin off its back, Altiar sliced through the Creatures back attacking its spine before he staggered his way to the creatures head.

Using his hidden blade he stabbed it into the creatures shoulder in order to keep a grip on the creatures back as he stabbed the Hunter in the eyes twice, effectively blinding it.

Altair grunted as the Hunter shook his head wildly and buckling, before it managed to shake him off, the assassin rolled on the floor grimacing at the filth that collected on his cloths and got back on all fours as he switched his dagger for his long sword he didn't hesitate to run forwards and stab the Hunter from under his chin and through his brain.

The Hunter let out a chocked sound before its large body slumped to the floor; grimacing Altiar pulled his blade out of the monsters flesh and took time to wipe his blade clean before he sheathed it; even though he was wearing modern cloths he still carried his weapons around., most of them ere hidden under the hoodie but his dagger and long sword were in plain view though as long as he didn't pull them out in the open he should be safe.

"Demon" Altiar spat softly; like he;d ever let such a vile creature eat him! He was tempted to behead the creature, just in case, but he didn't get the chance to, as Alex landed behind him, obviously finished with dispatching the military.

Alex blinked at the dead hunter; he was...well surprised at a loss for other words; he never imagined Altiar would be able to kill a Hunter; he;d only been gone 5 minutes tops and he'd killed a hunter and he didn't even have a scratch on him. "Did you-"

"Yes" Altiar bit "I am not incompetent" He said softly his yellow eyes burned in anger "Don;t treat me as such, I am more then capable of handling myself"

"..." Alex had never seen Altiar angry sure the man had been irritated at times but he was mostly level headed and far more calm that Alex could ever be, but to see him actually angry was unnerving and the older man would be lying if he didn't admit that the others glare made him feel just a little ashamed of himself for just brushing Altair aside and thinking him an inconvenience.

"I..." Alex broke off, not sure what to say to that; he hadn't intentionally meant to insult the others abilities and skills, he actually...had wanted to protect him; though for the life of him he didn't understand the urge to protect the assassin; Dana he could understand, she was Alex's sister but Altair? A stranger he barely knew? And seen as he had wanted rid of Altiar from the beginning it just didn't make sense this new urge to protect the other.

The older man felt the virus ripple again; as it had been around Altair for the past month; he was confused; what did it mean? Was Altiar a threat? Was the virus trying to warn him? He didn't understand at all what it meant and it was starting to bother him, so he made a mental not to speak to Ragland about it later.

He heard familiar footsteps of soldiers and before Altair could protest further, Alex had dragged the other behind a large dumpster forcing Altair to crouch down; Alex place a hand against the dirty wall as he crouched with Altiar, his body blocked Altair from view in an almost protective fashion.

The younger assassin swallowed as he felt Alex warm breath on his face; they were inches away from each other; he knew Alex had never been one for being in close proximity to people so he was surprised at how close Alex was right now. "..." He didn't know what to say or really what was going on until he heard a solider yell about there being a dead hunter and that it seems 'Zeus' had finished it off but hadn't had time to consume it. It seems they hadn't noticed that the wound marks looked nothing like the destruction Alex usually left behind, the cuts were precise and had been quickly executed, unlike Alex who charge in sword arm or claws blazing and attacked until eh was the only one left standing.

"He cant be far from here I doubt that son of a bitch would hang around, take this body to the incinerator and keep a look out for the target" A man, obviously the commanding officer ordered, several men dragged the hunters body away and they were left in silence.

"..." Altair relaxed a little when the soldiers had gone, glad they hadn't tried to look behind the dumpster, it seems they were more focused on disposing of the Hunter body Altair had left behind than anything else. The assassin realized, after a moment that Alex had not pulled away from him, he hadn't moved at all in face and was starting at him intensely for some reason.

"...Alex?" He questioned unsure of what he was getting such a piercing gaze from the other man and he began to feel uncomfortable with the close proximity they were faces and bodies were.

Then Alex blinked and pulled back standing quickly; whatever had happened a moment ago was long gone "We should get going the army will be out looking for me again" He said stiffly; Altiar could tell Alex was very tense for some reason, and the man wouldn't look him in the eye. "Get up, then we can go"

Altair almost winced at the cold tone in Alex's voice and wondered faintly if he'd done something wrong; Even though Alex was still reluctant to have Altiar round he seemed to have warmed to him a little over the past week, but now it was like they had just met all over again, and frankly Altiar was a little disappointed.

Slowly Altair got to his feet and followed Alex out of the alleyway, for some reason they were walking home instead of using Alex's usual method of jumping from building to building, but he decided not to complain as they blended in with the crowds (Altair had to take his hoodie off when they rejoined the crowds seen as it was covered in hunter blood and tied it around his waist inside out instead)

When they arrived back at the apartment it was pretty dark, the sun having set about an hour before they had returned; Altiar smiled and greeted Dana as he usually did, but Alex didn't even greet his sister as he made a beeline for his room and slammed the door shut, locking it soon after that.

"Uh...what happened between you two, did you guys fight or something?" Dana asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked between Altair and her brothers looked bedroom door; he brother was either pissed about something or he had something major on his mind.

"I...have no idea" Altiar admitted with a sigh and a shake of his head "He's been in a...strange mood today, I fear I might have upset him" He said as he headed into the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

"Upset him how?" Dana asked as she followed though she decided to rummage in the fridge fro a pot of yoghurt. Altiar explained the little argument he and Alex had had before he sighed "I was angry, it felt like he was claiming I was weak...true I cant stop these...bullets, but I took a hunter down by myself...I have my pride Dana" He said softly as he sipped at his coffee, Ahhh sweet sweet caffeine.

Dana shrugged at that before she chuckled softly dipping her spoon into her yoghurt before taking a spoonful before she spoke " I'll bet, he probably said those words to you, because he doesn't want to admit he wants to keep you safe" She teased softly.

"I thought he didn't like me?" Altiar said surprised at this; Alex sure acted lik Altair was a hindrance most of the time. Dana chuckled at that "Well, that's Alex for you, what he says and what he does are two different things, always has been always will be, you have to learn to look between the lines with my brother"

"Look between the lines..." Altar murmured softly to himself as he slipped deep into thought.

Dance smiled softly and slugged Altair's arm (The one that wasn't holding the coffee) in a playful manner "Don;t worry about it, once you've lived here long enough you'll start to understand the complex language that is Alex Mercer" She said with a grin before she left with her chilled desert, the spoon in her mouth as she headed back to the computer.

Altiar frowned a little; not a lot made sense to him right now but soon, he hoped that it would.

* * *

DONE! WHOOOO Two chapters done in less than a week? By god it must be a miricale! Hope you enjoy!

Jade x


	6. Truths

Chapter 6 - Truths

* * *

Altair frowned as he clicked around on the computer, ever since his reading and writing had improved enough to be able to learn how to use the strange device, the Arabian man had been doing nothing but trying to find any sort of clue about the assassins; if they even existed still, or had they died out completely? Altair hoped for the world's sake, that this was not the case.

Things between him and Alex had been...strangely tense to say the least, and he had the feeling Alex was avoiding him for some unknown reason; he wondered if it was because of what had happened before? He secretly hoped not, after all he'd simply been angry at Alex's dismissal of him and his abilities as an assassin, but that didn't mean he held that anger; he had long since learned to let anger like that go as quickly as it had come.

Whatever was wrong with Alex, Altiar never had the chance to ask the older man about it because the other was either out, on his own or locked away in his room and would never answer Altair when he knocked on the door, so the assassin was just left confused.

What confused him more was Dana's claim that Alex actually LIKED him; it certainly didn't match Alex attitude towards him of late; he had been just as stand offish and irritated as when Alex had first arrived in their home.

"What are you looking for?" Dana's asked, her half awake voice floated just over his shoulder, snapping him abruptly out of his thoughts. He turned to look at Dana and noted she was wearing black Pj's with pink skulls printed on them, her hair was a mess and she was eating cereal seen as it was first thing in the morning "...Assassins?" She asked with a raised eyebrow at his google search.

"...I want to find out if there are any assassins in the present that are out there...well if there there" he said softly he knew Dana would probably have even more questions for him now, but as time had worn on living with the two siblings, keeping the secrecy that surrounded his brotherhood seemed less and less relevant the more he started to trust them, well at least trust Dana, he just...didn't know where he stood with Alex at all.

"Seriously? That's what you spend all your time on my laptop for? Geez I thought you were looking at porn or something...never mind" She said at Altair's confused expression as to what on earth porn was. Dana coughed softly, deciding now was the best time to change the subject as she took the spare chair, sitting down next to Altair, "You know if your not getting anywhere I could help you I can hack into stuff that's hidden, maybe I can find something about your assassin friends" She suggested.

"Well they're not really my friends were more a group...a brotherhood" Altair clarified softly "If there are any assassins they wont be easy to find...were very secretive" He said to her.

"I can tell, considering you've never once spoken about this brotherhood of yours or what you do...Alex mentioned templars once but..." She looked at the Arabian male a soft but serious expression in her face "What's going on Altiar?"

"I don't know what's going on in the present...but...maybe it is time I told you about what has happened in the past" He said softly before he told her his story, about the creed and the rules he followed, about his failure at Solomon's temple and the attack on Masyaf his home land, about being sent on a quest for redemption and La Maulims betrayal.

"And the last think I remember was the artefact glowing brightly when I was injured...then When I woke up I was here in your sofa" he said as he finished; his tale even shortened and to the point had taken at least half an hour to explain fully.

"So...let me get this straight, you broke the rules of your own brotherhood, and failed to steal some artefact from Soloman's Temple, the Knights Templar are the mortal enemies of your creed , and wanted this...piece of Eden as you called it, for themselves" Dana paused as she let this sink in "But you not only failed to get that but you failed to kill this Robert de Sable guy, and your mentor Al Maulim sent you off to kill nine Head templars to redeem yourself...form what you've told me these people were like key figures in the whole of the third crusade that you killed"

Altiar nodded "Yes it would seem as such, from what I can gather on the internet, but note that the cause of death in undetermined" He said amused, sounding almost proud of himself.

"I noticed...but, when you found and killed that De Sable guy he told you that Al Maulim, your mentor, was actually working for the Templars and used you to kill off the other Templars...in order to unite the warring Christians and Muslims against your brotherhood!" she gaped "Wow just...wow, and he had the piece of Eden all this time and was using its power to control the minds of the people?"

Altiar nodded "Yes the pieces of Eden...there is more than one, there are artifacts that are older then before history even began...apparently they were even responsible for creating religion, by manufacturing events like the parting of the red sea... Al Maulim's piece of Eden, created illusions...but it didn't work on me...my old mentor claimed that what I was and what I did were too tightly wound together, to lose one side of me would be to lose the other, and he needed me to kill off the nine templars"

"Ouch...sounds harsh...but you didn't get to finish him off, because the piece of Eden sent you here...I wonder why?" Dana pondered.

"Everything happens for a reason, perhaps it is fate you and Alex found me that day" Altiar responded softly. "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" He murmured, more to himself then to Dana.

Dana chuckled softly "Well it;s defiantly a tall tale but its hard not to believe you, having lived with you for so long as I have...I guess its my turn to share some secrets huh?"

"That would be nice yes, you and Alex are always off whispering to each other" He said amused. "I was beginning to feel left out" He said softly; he WAS curious as to what Dana was researching for Alex; usually whatever she found had Alex leaving the house not minutes afterwards.

"Well I guess its time we filled out in...you are aware that Alex is trying to find the people that turned him into the virus right? Well he...he's tracking down and killing them in revenge...not only that he's working hard out there to stop a women named Elizabeth Greene, she's also infected but with a different strain of virus that Alex has, anyway, he freed her from Gentek by mistake and now she's infected half of New York, she's the one that spawns those Hunters to attack and infect humans and that attack Alex...right now he's just, trying to put things right" She explained

"...I see...it explains a lot and I can understand the secrecy but why are the military after him as well? It seems Alex is being hunted by just about everyone" Altiar said softly feelings of sympathy crept up on the assassin; he had known Alex had it hard but it seemed that pretty much everyone was against him; Altiar could almost relate to it. "Do you think he can do it?"

"...I don't know, to be honest I worry he's taking on too much at once I do what I can for him but, hey I'm only human" She let out a small shrug "...Its a lot of work, but that's Alex for you, he wont stoop until he's found all the answers he needs" Dana said softly "Sometimes even I feel a little out of the loop and I worry about him even though he's fucking superhuman!... well, that and he's been acting really, odd lately, I mean more odd than usual" she clarified.

"...I wouldn't know I haven't seen much of him for the past few weeks...I think he might be avoiding me" he admitted to her as he stopped his search for assassins on the computer, for now at least and turned to her "Did I do something to anger him? Because I've hardly seen him around the apartment for the past few weeks"

Dana blinked at this a little surprised by this confession, and she smiled a tiny bit; she DID have an idea of what might be going on with her brother, but she wasn't 100% sure and poor Altiar seemed clueless, she almost felt sorry for him being so out of the loop like he was about pretty much everything that was going on; it was probably why she had now decided to tell him what she and Alex were doing; she trusted him enough, even if Alex didn't.

Dana leaned back in her chair and pondered a little before she spoke "Well, I really don't know either, like I said he's been acting kinda weird but he won't tell me what's up, sometimes Alex can just be in a world of his own when he's focused on something, you probably didn't even do anything wrong" She said with a shrug.

"Your brother is...not easy to live with "Altiar said with a soft chuckle as he sipped on his now lukewarm coffee.

"Nope not at all, but that's just the way he is now, and honestly I wouldn't have him any other way" Dana said with a faint smile; Alex had his flaws, this was true, but he was still her big brother no matter what, and since he'd been infected he had been more of a big brother to her than in the past; it was kind of ironic how Alex seemed to care more for her now than when he had been human.

"...I suppose not" Altair murmured, more to himself; Alex was a strange person and he seemed to have mood swings worse than Dana when she was on her *cough* time of the month; One minute Alex could be holding a conversation and have a sense of humour, and the next he was cold and distant, Altair just couldn't figure the man out.

"I need to go to the store, were running low on Milk and coffee again" She said with a sigh; seen as Alex and Altair were now wanted ( Altiar had gotten onto Blackwatch's hit list because he 'hung around' with Alex) she was the only one who could disguise her self and walk around without getting caught.

"Alright, be careful you there" He said to her as she stood and headed to the kitchen,there was the sound of plate clinking as she dumped her dirty dishes and cutlery in the sink before she headed to the bathroom, when she came out she wore a lone blonde wig and sunglasses, smirking she walked to the coat rack and shrugged on her jacket.

"I'll be fine, you worry as much as Alex!" She said with a soft chuckle and a wave of her hand; she kept a pistol and a small switch-blade with her at all times so she could at least fed off a hunter or the military if they somehow saw through her disguise.

"Your my friend I have every right!" He said smiling right back he chuckled softly as she just waved and closed the apartment door behind her leaving Altiar alone in the apartment.

Alex leaned back in his chair as he wondered what to do now; it was quiet today the infection of New York having moved further away from where they were living meaning there were less patrols over the quarantined zone. He decided he would do some training for a bit...or he would have had he not almost jumped a mile at a voice right behind him.

"Dana's gone then?" Alex said, Altair almost pulled a fucking throwing knife from his pocket and threw it at Alex he'd spooked him that much, hell he almost fell out his seat "Don't do that!" Altiar snapped his heart still thudding in his chest; by Allah, didn't the man KNOW not to sneak up on him by now?

"...I'll take that as a yes" the older man said with a soft grunt as he moved across towards the bathroom; it was then that Altair noticed the strange small in the air, one that was eerily familiar...it took a moment for the assassin to recognize it "Are you bleeding!" Altair said as he stood suddenly; it would explain why Alex turned up when Dana wasn't around; after all she'd fuss over the other for the rest of the day.

"No, most of it...isn't mine" He grumbled softly his eye twitching in irritation as the younger man followed him to the bathroom and he rounded on his "Go away Altair" He bit "Just leave me alone" He growled the virus rippled again stronger this time; it almost felt like the virus was getting out of control, that he was getting out of control and as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was beginning to understand why.

"I just want to help Alex, Dana won't be gone for very long, and you know she will worry if she sees you like this...I'll help you get cleaned up before she gets back" He said softly; inwardly he was worried, Alex was covered in blood,the dark red liquid staining his shirt and hooide, some of it was even splattered on his hands and he hat plenty more on his jeans, needless to say Dana would have a fit if she saw the state Alex was in.

"You need to get out of those cloths, I will try and get the stains out, If Dana asks I'll say they were muddy, it's raining outside, she wont know any different" He said, more to himself then Alex who was just starting at him as if to say; 'you want me to strip while your here?'

Altiar coughed a bit his cheeks stained a little red when he realized held asked Alex to strip in front of him "Uh I'll leave, take a shower or something to get clean I'll pick the cloths up later when your done" He said softly before he left.

Altair slipped into the kitchen with the armful of cloths, and leaned on the counter, well that had been...awkward to say the least; he hoped Alex didn't take offence, he honestly just wanted to help the other hide the fact he was recovering from bullet wounds and that he was covered in blood.

Alex's shower was quick, he wasn't in there longer then ten minutes, he slipped out of the bathroom clean and still dripping wet and towel around his waist, he glanced at Altiar before he headed to his room closing the door behind him no doubt to change into a similar pair of jeans and a shirt.

Altair felt a shudder go down his spine at the look Alex gave him he didn't understand what it meant but he had a bad feeling about it the look was almost...feral.

Shaking his head of such thoughts Altiar got to the task at hand he slipped into the bathroom and picked up Alex discarded cloths he dragged them to the kitchen and proceeded to scrub the blood out of them in the kitchen sink using all sorts of different products on the shirt, hoodie and jeans which had been stained the most with blood, of course this meant that Altair got his own white shirt and pants wet as well but he hardly cared; after all it'd dry out soon enough.

Once he got as much blood as he could out of the clothing, he put them all in the wash he simply wiped down the leather jacket; it was dark in colour so you shouldn't see any blood stains anyway, and hung it up by the door. Altair sighed satisfied with his work, even though said work had been rather...womanly; ah well he had helped Alex and now when Dana came home she wouldn't suspect a thing; which was a good thing because that women worried too much for her own good; something he and Alex actually agreed on.

When Alex appeared out of his room Altiar was a little surprised; usually Alex locked himself in his room and didn't emerge again, but it seemed he was going to be graced with the pothers presence today; Alex stepped out in a pair of jeans similar to the ones he was wearing earlier and a t-shirt rather thing his normal white shirt which looked a little unusual on the other considering how Alex usually dressed but Altiar didn't think it looked bad on the other.

"Everything is sorted Dana wont know any different when she returns from shopping" He assured Alex as he headed over to the bookshelf; he decided that training could wait until later there probably wouldn't be enough time between now and when Dana made dinner so it;d have to wait until tonight, he began scanning the book titles his back to Alex. As usual he didn't get a response from the other and he presumed Alex was going to go off and do whatever Alex usually did in his own room.

What he wasn't expecting was Alex, breathing on his neck right behind him his hands on either side of the bookshelf blacking him in.

Altair suddenly felt very claustrophobic; what the hell! "Alex? What-" He didn't get to finish his sentence when Alex actually BIT him, the assassin let out a choked yelp of surprise as Alex growled against his neck; the bite hurt a bit but it hadn't been hard enough to make it bleed.

Naturally Altiar hissed in pain and elbowed Alex in the gut hard trying to get him off, but slamming his elbow into Alex's stomach was like hitting a padded brick wall "Get off me!" He struggled managing to at least turn around to face the other, but grunted as Alex slammed him into the wall next to the book case.

Alex growled softly again at Altair's resistance "What is about you..." He broke off with a soft hiss, tendrils slid out of Altair's body and began wrapping around Altiar;s body pinning him to the wall, the black and red tendrils pulsed and glowed softly around his arms, legs and waist keeping Altiar pinned; no matter what he tried he couldn't move.

"What are you talking about! Let go of me right now!" He growled; he was too pissed off to actually be scared of the other; then again he had never been afraid of Alex since he met him.

Alex let out a soft growl as his whole body rippled in response in the others anger; the virus was almost ecstatic at this reaction; Alex didn't respond tot he others protests other than to shut him up, his mouth roughly pressed against Altair's in an act of dominance over the other, one hand fisted in Altair's hair forcing his head to angle the right way so he could kiss him properly.

Altiar was stunned; he froze up in utter shock his mouth dropping open as his brain crashed, which Alex exploited almost hungrily, his eyes closed a she just focused on feeling Altair's body pressed against his and the taste of the others mouth.

When the younger assassin's brain finally rebooted he let out a snarl and tried to kick the other off him, anything he could think off so Alex let him go; he tried not to focus on how warm Alex felt or about who the kissing was...rough but, nice in its own way- no! He wouldn't focus on such wrong carnal acts!

Then suddenly as he;d come Alex tore away form him panting softly the look in his eyes burned with something he couldn't fathom at all right now; he quickly realized WHY Alex had turned away however, because a moment later Dana walked through the door, her arms full of bags of shopping "I'm back- Oh Alex your home!" She said before she paused looking between the two slightly ruffled men "Uh...did I miss something?"

"No...nothing" Alex bit out before Altair could respond before he turned and left for his room without another word.

Altiar just stood there, leaning against the wall as he shook a little; what on Allah's green earth had THAT been all about? Altiar just couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that _ALEX FUCKING MERCER_ had just kissed him! He shuddered to think what Alex might have done if Dana hadn't returned!

"Hey are you okay?" Dana asked concerned, Altiar was leaning on the wall his knees were shaking a little as he panted a little out of breath and his skin was unusually pale "You look like you've just seen a ghost!"

"I...I need to take a break" He said weakly he managed to push himself away from the walk and make it to his room where he collapsed on the bed; he'd never felt so weak in his entire like, it was almost like Alex had sucked half of his life out of him from that kiss, and yet his mouth burned and his stomach churned unpleasantly.

Altiar let out a soft sigh and he closed his eyes; he decided that thinking about Alex and his fucked up mood swings could wait he felt tired even though it was only the after noon, he tossed the covers over him and closed his eyes as he drifted to sleep and prayed that Alex wouldn't haunt his dreams as much as he did while he was awake.

* * *

Heheheheh Yes were actually get ting to play and yes were getting to the hot steamy make out sessions and sex, bare with me I have a lot of shit to write before they get that far XD Just enjoy this flight/make out session in this chapter XD

Jade.


	7. Contact

Chapter 7 - Contact

-

Altair sighed as he tossed and turned around in his bed for the fifth time tonight; no matter what he wanted, it seemed his restless mind would not allow him to sleep. Sighing softly the Arabian male slid out of bed; he was wearing practically nothing but the assassin didn't seem to mind; the curtains were drawn and it was dark in the room you could barely see the outline of the furniture the only light coming from the glow of the digital clock next to his bed told him it was 4:45am.

Altair frowned a bit and started to pace around in his room; what was he going to do? There was no way he could face Alex, he wouldn't be able to look the man in the eye! Hell he could barely look at Dana right now without knowing that her brother was watching his every move; if he didn't know any better he'd say Alex's paranoia was rubbing off on him.

Ever since Alex kissed him he had been avoiding the other, and for good reason! He didn't know why Alex attacked him, why he kissed him or what motivated the older man to do such a thing! Was he simply pent up and Altair was the nearest thing to let out his frustration? (His sister didn't count. Obviously) Alex WAS a man after all and he had needs didn't he? He didn't want to risk being alone with Alex; as long as Dana around he knew the other wouldn't try anything but if they were alone...well Altair just didn't know what he'd do if the older man attempted to kiss him second time.

It wasn't that Altair hadn't LIKED Alex kissing him, in fact he was quite surprised to realize that he hadn't minded it at all; which posed a few confusing questions for himself; he had only ever been intimate with one women, an old friend named Abda, and she had died many years ago before his failure at Solomon's temple, he had never really looked at a man and found them attractive.

Alex wasn't exactly the best looking man around either; that's not to say he was ugly but his looks were above average at most the only thing that really stood out, that really made Alex stand out were those icy blue eyes; no it wasn't Alex's looks he liked the most, so what was it? His personality towards Altair was so full of mood swings that he didn't know where he stood...but with Dana he was different; he never said it out loud but it was obvious how much he cared for her; every time she went out he'd hold a concerned look, whenever she laughed his mouth would twitch smile just a tiny bit, when she was sad he'd rub her back to make her feel better.

For Alex Mercer, it seemed actions were louder then words ever could be and in a lot of ways Altair liked that about the other man.

Altair sighed as he pulled back the curtains a little to look out the window; it was still early in the morning and the streets of New York was covered in a fine fog that would be gone by the time people started getting up for work.

Altair; sighed he knew he wasn't going to get any more sleep so he pulled on a soft pale blue hoodie and a pair of jeans (He never wore Boxers again they itched so much) and slid on the straps for all his weapons; the straps looked very odd on modern clothing but assassin wasn't about to be fussy about such thing; after all he was only going to practise for a bit and he was going to be on his own.

Once he was ready he opened the window and climbed out of the window he reached above the window feeling for a crevice, once he found a suitable handhold, he crawled his way up the building; he always found it amusing how Dana despaired of him and Alex for 'not fucking using doors like normal fucking people' as she put it.

Altiar smiled to himself as he hopped onto the flat roof of the apartment complex they were in and breathed in the early morning air deeply, letting it fill his lungs before he exhaled with a soft sigh; it was quite this morning, only the faint thrum of a helicopter in the distance could be heard and Altiar smiled to himself, whatever Alex was doing out there he was doing a good job it seemed.

The Arabian assassin started out by sitting over the edge of the roof and meditating; he had found that it was good to relax and meditate ones mind and body before training as well as before a mission and he used it to calm himself and for a while ignore the thoughts racing through his mind.

Once he felt relaxed enough and his mind clear, he began with his exercises; even though he wasn't technically an 'assassin' at the moment, he still trained to keep his body in shape and considering that those hunter things were out there, it was defiantly necessary at the moment.

He started out with some target practise, Dana had set up a sort of shooting range for him so he could throw knives at old metal tin cans and plastic bottles filled with a little water to give them weight. Altair smirked as he set up the bottles and flicked out his knives; his aim was precise as ever eat knife hitting its mark easily the tin cans and bottles falling over and clattering to the floor; he repeated this process a few times before he moved on to his dagger.

He went through some simple movements on the roof, his eyes were closed as he imagined he was surrounded by templars; he moved quickly, he thrust and jabbed his dagger in one hand, while his free hand struck out with a punch to the face or stomach as he imagined breaking an opponents guard and slicing their throat open before moving onto another and another.

For an assassin Altair wasn't particularly bloodthirsty, he didn't much like killing needlessly only killing when necessary; lives that must be taken in order to save others; kill a few to save a thousand, that's what he lived for.

Altair was unaware, that by this point he was being watched, every step, every twist and turn of his movements was being watched and absorbed by Alex as he crouched on the roof of the stair well; He couldn't sleep; he never could, the voices in his head, they always stopped him getting any sort of rest he felt though that in a twisted way, that he deserved no rest, he deserved no reprieve, he was to blame for the outbreak, because he had released Greene so it was only fair in a way he suffer for his mistakes.

He had come up here after getting no rest in order to get a breather, maybe even scout the area a little without Dana knowing, but he was surprised to find the younger man had beaten him to it and was unaware of him watching.

Alex could feel his breathing speed up as he watched Altair's body twist and turn; the virus rippled madly with want; with the need to know if Altair was a flexible as a mate as he was on the battle field, he wanted to know what his reactions would be in the midst of pleasure.

Alex shook his head and grist his teeth in irritation; he couldn't believe he was thinking these thoughts for another MALE of all people; he had been with Karen Parker before; a women, and while he barely remembered their time together; he obviously knew that and man and a women being together was normal, it was basic survival identical to find a women and procreate.

But with Altair it was different; he was obviously male for a start and there was something about the assassin...maybe it was the way he talked, maybe it was the fact he was a killer too or maybe it was because the assassin was pleasing to the eye, or even a mixture of all three, Alex really didn't know where it stemmed from, only that these feeling had grown over the past few months that Altair had been staying with him and his sister.

All in all, Alex really couldn't be sure about anything right now all he knew, was that the Arabian man made the virus stir...he knew a part of what he was feeling was his own feelings...the other part was a pure primal need; he wanted Altair; he wanted to taste the others lips on his, to feel his body against his, and do things that he didn't even know he had the knowledge of! He had never been gay as far as he knew, but he somehow already knew how the sexual act of two males worked; he'd obviously picked that up from someone he'd consumed.

The more Alex watched Altair move the more the virus stirred; it was driving him crazy, even more crazy than any voice that was screaming in his head. He knew he should walk away but his eyes were fixed on Altair entranced; the way the assassin fought wasn't anything like him; he was wild, feral, he attacked without mercy and didn't give a damn at what mess he made, Altair's fighting style was different from his; it was controlled, precise, it was fast and graceful; the way Altiar moved, the way he twisted and turned was almost like he was dancing.

The longer the older man watched, the harder it was to look away; it was fascinating to watch; almost beautiful in its own way and Alex could imagine Altair killing handfuls of men at a time; without pause, without mercy and making it seem like murder was an art form.

Alex shuddered softly; he should go before he lost control and did more than just pin Altair to the wall and kiss him, he shifted his weight and stood hoping to sneak off, but luck was never on his side and as soon as Alex shifted to stand up, Altair noticed.

"...!" Altiar paused his sword in the air mid swing "...How long..." He broke off lowering his sword and he tried not to blush in embarrassment; how long had Alex BEEN there without him knowing! Usually he was for more attentive, being able to sense when someone was sneaking up behind him but he hadn't sensed Alex at all and it was scary how the older man could sneak up on him like that.

"..." Alex didn't reply as he watched Altair his eyes looking him up and down "I haven't been here long, I couldn't sleep" He said; that was the truth at least, he couldn't have been here more then 15 minutes tops.

"Ah...alright" an awkward silence stretched between them Alex was just standing there and the assasin just didn't know what to say to Alex; oh sure there were PLENTLY of things he wanted to ask him; why did you kiss me? Why do you claim to dislike me when your body says other wise; why are you giving me such a smouldering look?' to name a few but none of them got past his lips.

"..." Alex was silent; he had never been very good with words; well not unless he was pissed off then his wording got...colourful (and Altair wondered where Dana got it from!) he had no idea what to say to the other; did he apologize? Should he say sorry for kissing him even though he wasn't sorry at all?

"...Why...did you kiss me?"Altair asked the first question ,slowly, carefully as if tiptoeing around a time bomb; he didn't know whether this question would irritate Alex, make him leave or if he'd actually answer.

"..." Alex swallowed; he had known this question would eventually come to haunt him, he had always known that, he winced a little not sure he had a complete answer for the other. "...I..." He broke off and fell silent before he sighed and for once, decided just to say what he felt "...I just wanted to"

Altiar blinked a little stunned he even got an answer, even if that answer in his mind wasn't satisfactory at all for the confusion he felt in his mind and body. "You...just wanted to...is that the only reason?" He asked with a stern frown as he regarded the other with a serious gaze obviously not impressed with Alex's answer, which served to tick Alex off.

"I don't KNOW alright!" He bit "I don't know why I'm feeling like this!" He said as he grit his teeth; he hadn't wanted to snap at the other but he was frustrated, both with his inability to come up with a solid answer and his body's needs.

"..." Altiar was a little taken aback by the others outburst but mostly he could understand the others frustration and confusion "...I...didn't mind it" He said softly not looking Alex in the eye; it was a hard thing for him to admit "...The kiss I mean...It surprised me but..." He decided to shut up because he was making a fool of himself.

"...You liked it?" He stated softly before he hopped down from the roof of the stairwell and approached him slowly "...Can you put your weapons away for a minute?" He whispered softly his expression was unreadable under the hood.

"...?" Altair didn't answer but he silently complied with the other sliding his sword away in its sheath on his hip, and for an extra safety measure he even unstrapped the hidden blade from his arm, just in case. "Why do you-Mhhh!" He was cut off; the moment his weapons were gone Alex had pounced, tentacles wrapped around his waist pulling him in close as Alex pressed his mouth to his roughly, it was a little sloppy at first though Altair didn't mind; secretly he had to admit he sort of liked it.

The younger man stumbled back a bit before he fell on his back, Alex's sheer weight making the other topple on top of him still kissing him deeply; the Arabian male squirmed a little at the sudden heavy weight and shivered softly; okay again, this kiss was unexpected but at least this time he didn't mind it happening so much.

Altiar tried to move his arms and found himself pinned down by the other man the tendrils from before against wrapped around his body firmly keeping him in place as Alex straddled his hips slowly; the older man wouldn't let Altair move; and in a way he wanted to prove he was the dominating force over the assassin.

Naturally the younger man fought back, squirming softly under the other, their hips brushing together softly as he tried to roll Alex over even though it was pretty impossible by this point; Alex had super strength and Altair was only human, but he still tried to dominate the kiss; something which he proved he had more experience in than the other as he suckled on the others tongue surprising himself at how much he was enjoying this; it was more than just simply liking the kiss; he liked it because it was ALEX he was kissing.

Ever since he'd been stuck in the future all he had wanted in a way, was Alex's approval of him, he wanted his trust; the same trust that Dana gave him so easily, and now he was being handed that trust on a silver platter; after all Alex Mercer did not go around kissing just anyone.

Alex growled a little into the kiss he virus was almost throbbing now, pulsing like a racing heart beat as Altair swiftly look over the kiss and showed Alex how it was done properly; this was why Alex liked Altair; why the virus found him suitable; he wasn't afraid of Alex, he wasn't afraid to fight for dominance over Alex even though the other was much stronger than himself; he never showed fear of what Alex was, instead he accepted him, and he never showed doubt, and once he put his mind to something he went through with it.

Altair had a lot of qualities Alex liked, the fact the assassin was quite handsome was a plus.

Ales pulled apart the kissed when Altiar couldn't breath and began kissing and biting at his neck as a tendril unzipped the others hoodie for him, his mouth moved over the fading bruise on his neck where Alex had bit Altiar the first time and licked over it softly which made Altiar shiver in response at that. "Ngh-Alex" He murmured; the sensation sending shivers right down his spine.

Alex smirked a little against the others neck as the tendrils, now having disposed of the younger man's hoodie, began sneakily sliding under Altair's black skin tight t-shirt he wore, making Altiar gasp a bit and arch up in response.

Things probably would have gotten a LOT further then they did...had Dana not decided to look for them "Alex! Stop fucking molesting Altair! Your in public!" She snapped obviously not too happy that her beauty sleep was woken up at 4:30 in the morning she was in her dressing gown and slippers her hair a mess and she looked half asleep on her feet.

"D-dana!" Alex pulled back like he'd been burned leaving a very rumpled looking Altair on the floor "What are you doing up!" He said actually sounding sheepish; surely they hadn't been so loud they'd woken her up?

Dana scowled and walked over to them before she thrust the phone into Altair's hand "I do believe this is fucking phone call is yours!" she bit.

Altiar blinked at this stunned a she stared at the phone than up at her "Mine? There has to be a mistake...no one knows I'm living with you both!" He said as he looked to Alex who looked equally as stunned at this before his face turned into a frown "Don't answer it" He said suddenly his paranoia kicking in; what if it was Blackwatch!

Dana seemed to read the thought passing through Alex's head and rolled her eyes "It's not Blackwatch Alex, I traced the call; its coming from somewhere outside of New York, Somewhere in Europe actually" Dana said with a frown.

Altair frowned as well at this information; if it was in Europe the chances were it wasn't the group after Alex so it should be safe. He smiled a little at the two, trying to look reassuring before he pressed his ear to the phone, he ignored Alex's pleading look to just hang up "Hello?"

"Are you the one looking for assassins?" The voice was distorted and deep someone was obviously masking their voice, whoever this person was obviously didn't want to be recognized in any way.

"Yes, I am" He said softly "Are you one of them?" He asked.

"Yes, if your an assassin, then name the three rules of our creed" The voice asked suddenly and Altiar almost laughed at the question; granted it was a question only a true assassin would know but the question amused him nonetheless and reminded him of being a novice back in the classrooms of Masayf "One: stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent, two: be discreet, and hide in plain sight, and finally three: never do anything to compromise the brotherhood" He said softly not noticing Dana and Alex's completely confused expressions behind him.

"...If you know so much, then who ARE you? What is your name? There aren't supposed to be any assassins registered in New York yet; we traced your IP address over there" The voice spoke

"...May name is Altair Ibn La'Ahad and I got myself very lost in the strangest of circumstances, that would take a few hours to explain" He replied.

"...There was silence on the other end but he could he the faint sound of hurried whispers before the mysterious caller returned "Stay right where you are, we'll be in touch" The caller said before they hang up.

"What the hell was that all about! I mean who the fuck calls at 4:30 in the goddamn morning!" Dana demanded as she looked to Altiar who stood slowly his hoodie half handing off his shoulder as he just stared at the phone a little stunned.

"The assassin brotherhood...its alive" He looked to Dana before his gaze shifted over to Alex "...and I think, they just got into contact with me"

- 


	8. The Meeting

Chapter 8 – Meeting

A cough broke the silence of the dim room where two men sat opposite each other one behind a large desk his face shadowed as he smoked a cigar "I take it everything is going to plan?" The first man said the voice was gruff, authoritative and weary of the man sitting opposite him, the atmosphere in the room was tense, as if the two human beings barely tolerated each other.

"Naturally, after our startling discovery of that man, we are progressing swimmingly, now that we his assistance, very little can go wrong...and what about you? You have STILL failed to capture the assassin" The other voice spoke it was calm but a little strained, as if the man did too much work for his own good.

"I wanted to talk to you about that...it seems we've hit a snag...your assassin is with Zeus, our number one target, they've been seen fighting together by my men, it seems they've made allies of each other"

"And? I do not expect any excuses! Altair Ibn La'Ahad is an assassin, true, but he is a MAN General! He is nothing more than flesh and bone, if we capture him, then everything we need is right there in the palm of our hands! Do NOT forget who funds you General, or who you work for" the man bit out.

The other man grit his teeth in silent irritation at the others scolding "It seems YOU don't know what were dealing with, your target might be an easy target, but Zeus ISNT human, he is a time bomb, full of destructive power and no morals, he's already killed over 300 of my men destroyed 50 Apache helicopters and 28 of my tanks!" The man bit "He is out of control, bent on revenge and will destroy this city if we don't kill him first, there's little chance we'll be able to capture your target if Zeus is with him!"

"I read the file on Zeus...smart man, such a pity really" The man said softly, he paused for a moment before speaking again "You say he has no morals, tell me then why does he care for his sister, and why does he care enough fro Altair to let him stick around? Your 'monster' isn't as heartless as you think he is...it's a weakness you could have exploited, you just choose not to" The man smirked when the other didn't have an answer "I believe this meeting is over; you know your mission: capture Altair and bring him to us. That is all" The man said before he turned and left.

When the door closed behind him there was the sound of something smashing against the wall. Warren Vidic smirked to himself; The general was not happy, but he would follow orders as all military men would if they didn't want their finances cut "May the father of understanding guide us" He murmured as he left; Desmond Miles was still eluding him but no matter; what their prisoner claimed turned out to be true, Altair really was here from the past so Desmond was no longer needed by Abstergo; they had a new target and this time; they wouldn't let him escape once they had him.

-

"Are you sure about this?" Alex asked quietly; usually he wouldn't bother asking, hell usually he wouldn't give a damn; but things had changed...HE had changed and he was concerned that the assassin might be walking into some sort of trap. The man was talented, but he wasn't immortal; at least Alex could withstand bullets! "Are you sure...you want to go alone?" He said as he looked over at Altair as he equipped himself with his weapons he strapped his hidden blade onto his wrist and flicked his hand out, the blade sliding out smoothly before he flicked it back into its hidden compartment

"If they are assassins then maybe they can help me find some answers as to why I'm here, and get me up to date with what's going in in the world...maybe they can even get me back home" He said softly; he wasn't going to deny it; he missed Maysaf, he missed his home town and the training, the missions; hell he even missed Malik for Allah's sake and he never thought he'd miss the man; but there were times when he started missing Malik's stinging sarcastic quips whenever he visited Jerusalem.

"...home...right" was all Alex said as he looked a the floor his arms folded over his chest; Altair raised an eyebrow; was it him or did Alex almost sound disappointed?

"..." Altiar wasn't sure to say; after being caught kissing Alex (Or Alex kissing him whichever way around you want to put it) by Dana things between him and Alex had yet again changed though admittedly it was better this time around; Dana bluntly put after the phone call, that she didn't care who Alex kissed, just so long as it made him happy she was more then fine with it "Just don't grope each other in public" She had warned them the day she caught them on the roof, before she had shuffled off back to bed.

Alex seemed to have dropped a lot of his cold façade around him and it was nice really, to get almost the same treatment that he gave Dana, but now he was leaving it seemed he was closing up again. "Listen...I am coming back...I doubt a solution for me to get back to my time will turn up any time soon anyway..." He smiled a little bit "So don't sound so disappointed; after all it's not like your not going to follow me, right?" He said amused; even if Alex said he wasn't going to go he'd probably end up following anyway; Dana was defiantly right when she said what Alex did and what he said were different.

"Hmph why would I follow you? If I go out it's because I'm on the look out for more infected" He said simply looking away from Altair but he was pretty sure it was because the other was secretly embarrassed that the assassin had been able to read him so easily.

"Well either way, I'm fascinated to know how the assassins of this time operate, and where we stand right now in the world" He said changing the subject a little before he glanced up at the clock in the kitchen, it was 3:25, the assassins had sent and E-mail arranging for them to meet in Central park at 4.00pm. He had insisted that he go alone, Central park was a big place, but Altair wasn't worried, after all he had walked aground the park plenty of times beforehand so he knew his way around; it was a weekend as well, so there would the lots of people around meaning if it was some sort of trap it would be hard to make any suspicious actions out in the open.

"I should go before I'm late" He said simply as he headed towards the door "I'll see you there" He said chuckling softly when Alex huffed and looked away, he let the other be as he left closing the door behind him.

"Sooo...when ARE you going to follow him?" Dana asked as she sat at the computer with a raised eyebrow at her brother; she knew him better than anyone, she knew that despite himself he was worried about Altiar; and she was sure that his incessant paranoia didn't help matters.

"I'm not! I'm...just going out for some air! I have no intentions of following him" He said softly as he leaned against the wall his arms foiled over his chest on obvious denial; Dana couldn't really blame him for being so shy about it; after all before Altiar there had been Karen and she had betrayed him to Gentek, it wasn't exactly an experience that made you want to open your arms to another potential lover.

"Alex, your the worst fucking lair I ever met, just admit that your worried about him, there's no crime in actually caring about someone else who isn't family you know" She said softly said with a roll of her eyes; she didn't see what the big deal was; so Alex might be gay, or bi, its not like she cared, whatever made Alex happy was fine by her and its not like she disapproved of Altair, quite the opposite.

"...Are you sure your okay with this?" He asked her quietly.

Dana rolled her eyes "For fucks sake Alex, this isn't about me, what you do and who you go out with isn't any of my business, I mean, you like him don't you? Sure he might be from like 800 years in the past but come on Alex, more fucked up things have happened" She said with a shrug "I like Altair, he's not bad looking either, I can't fault your taste" She said with a grin when Alex actually DID go red at that.

"Dana..." He growled but it wasn't in a threatening way it sounded more like he was whining in embarrassment rather than threatening her.

"What? Come on Alex its not like there's a lot I can fucking tease you about" She said with a chuckle "Look...if he makes you happy then I'm not bothered, you know I trust Altiar" she gave him a nudge "Go on then go follow him you know you want to" She said amused

Alex grunted a little bit "...Fine but if he asks I'm saying that it was YOUR suggestion" the male said before he slipped out of the window and disappeared. Dana just chuckled softly as he left and shook her head amused "Men" she huffed a bit, seriously why were they always so awkward when it came to how they felt!

-

Altair smiled to himself as he walked down the streets of New York to be quite honest he was excited about meeting the assassins, he almost felt like a child again excited about what they were getting for their birthday.

The male crossed a busy road and made his way tot he park; it was a bright sunny day today and plenty of people were out taking a break after work, children were walking home from school with their parents, some even playing a strange game called soccer that Altair never really got the point of.

All in all in the quarantined zone in the city that never sleeps was almost back to normal.

Altiar glanced around under his hood before his eyes glowed faintly as he turned on his eagle vision as he walked; his hoodie and jeans meant he blended in with everyone else easily; and he was looking out for anyone that was gold in colour; it meant that they were who he was looking for.

When the Assassins e-mailed him, they had said they would be in the park and that if he really was who he said he was, then he'd be able to find them without any sort of clues to their location, which made Altair suspect they knew about him, that they knew about his past and his gift with eagle vision though how they knew all of this, he didn't know; after all using his ability meant he could tell friend from foe just by looking at them.

He glanced around seeing nothing but grey citizens and the occasional red guard in the distance, it wasn't until he got near the centre of the park that the people by a van under the a large bridge, glowed gold. Altair frowned one of them was inside the truck and two others hovered outside obviously waiting, there didn't seem to be any signs of danger, but Altair decided to be cautious; Alex could be right it COULD be a trap...

-

Desmond Miles sighed softly as he leaned against the large van "Its a trap, it has to be and were walking right into it"

"Your sound like Shaun I think his scepticism is rubbing off on you Desmond" Lucy said with a chuckle and a shake of her head "I doubt that Absertgo would conduct something like this, I mean you have eagle vision, you'd be able to tell if whoever is approaching us is a Templar or not so I'm not too worried" She said softly.

Shaun snorted from inside the drivers seat of the van "Oh yes, rely on him to be our saviour and knight in shining armour" The Brit drawled with a smirk only for Desmond to turn and give him a glare and flip him off, which he could see in the vans rear-view mirror.

"Okay you two, cut it out and keep watch for anyone approaching the van" She said with a roll of her eyes, seriously the two were like big kids at times! Most of the time it was amusing but right now it was just plain irritating.

Desmond rolled his eyes a bit before he switched on eagle vision and the bright sunny day became dark; nothing but grey citizen and the occasional dot of red from the other side of the park; then he noticed it, a flicker of blue out of the corner of his eye, indicating an ally was approaching "Lucy, I think he's here...he's coming up blue as well"

"So he's on our side?" Lucy seemed to relax a bit at that; the eagle vision was truth, no matter how you disguised yourself eagle vision would be able to tell friend from foe easily. It was Desmond's strongest weapon.

The person who approached was tall around 6 foot in height and dressed in a grey hoodie; the hood was up, over his face hiding it from view, he wore dark jeans and trainers and seemed innocent enough...the only difference being he had a familiar leather strap attached to his chest on the outside of the hoodie that the three of them recognized; the strap was used to keep Altair's dagger fixed onto his back. He stood in front of them and sad nothing for a moment before he opened his mouth "It seems I found you"

"..." Lucy exchanged a look with Desmond; Altair spoke with almost perfect English, he had an accent but he seemed at ease speaking the language "Altiar right? I'm Lucy, I'm like you an assassin, this is Desmond and the guy in the driving seat is Shaun...we'd like you to get into the van please, its not the safest place to talk, you should know already were on your side...right?" she said the other male said nothing but followed Desmond and Lucy into the off white Van without complaint as Shaun started the engine.

"I'll warn you now, if your leading me into a trap the outcome for you won't be pleasant" He said softly.

"Why? Are you going to kill us?" Desmond asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wont have to...he'll do it for me I'm sure" He said softly before he said nothing more and left the two assassins confused.

-

Alex frowned as he watched from the roof of a nearby building as Altair approached an seemingly innocent group of people then got into the VAN with them; was he an idiot! It could be a trap and he was just...going along with it!

Alex grit his teeth in annoyance, he knew better than to think that Altair didn't go with them without some sort of plan, the assassin was more intelligent than he let on and Alex knew it, still he couldn't help the gnawing pit in his stomach that something bad was going to happen.

He had learnt to trust that instinct.

Sighing he charged power into his legs and jumped before he began to glide jumping from building to building and air dashing to keep up in the air as he tailed the van.

-

"So...Uhm" Lucy spoke up first inside the van; she didn't know what to say! This man was one of the most feared and famous assassins in the history of ALL assassins! And he was here in the future, where the heck did she begin?

"If you want to ask me something, than ask it, however I cant guarantee I will answer everything" He said simply as he shifted uncomfortable on the van; he always did hate these machines they made him uncomfortable and claustrophobic.

"Well, first things first how did YOU get here? I mean, your from the past you shouldn't be here, I don't understand how its even possible" Lucy said softly "We know almost everything about you but this ...well this is new"

"...Its new for me also" He said softly, before he began to re-account what had happened to him to bring him from his home in the 12th century to the 21st.

"Your saying a piece of Eden sent you here?" Lucy asked when he was finished explaining everything, and she exchanged a look with Desmond who had been rather quiet thus far. "Let me get this straight, you fought your mentor and before you could kill him he literally used the piece of Eden to send you here? How the heck have you survived? How long have you been in the 2st century!

"...I met someone and they've been kind enough to help me out, I've been here...almost 6 months" He said simply; not saying much more than that he was sure Alex and Dana wouldn't want to have their names exposed to strangers "They taught me English and gave me a place to stay"

"I see...well whoever they are must be very trusting" she said and Altiar wanted to laugh; Alex and Dana? Trusting? They hadn't been at first but Dana had warmed to him a hell of a lot quicker than Alex.

"Uh not to interrupt your THRILLING conversation... but we have a problem" Shaun said form the front seat and Altair realized that the van had stopped moving. He shifted and peeked out of the small window that was the only source of light in the back and saw a tank, two army trucks, and a LOT of military.

"Shit! What are they doing here!" Lucy whispered next to him before she swallowed; they couldn't have seen them sneaking INTO New York could they? They had had a hard time sneaking in past the inspection gates to reach Altair, in the dead of night and they were pretty sure they hadn't been noticed so why were they stopping them?

"Shit, we've been stopped by the military? This isn't going to end well" Desmond grumbled as several solders ordered Shaun to get out of the van and put his hands on his head. Shaun cursed under his breath as he complied, opening the door and stepping out of the van his arms raised "Hey what's the problem mate?" He bit at one solider.

"We have orders to inspect your van we believe you have a wanted man inside" The Blackwatch soldier said as he waved his rifle in front of Shaun's face his eyes following the gun barrels every move "Open the back of the van, now" he ordered.

Shaun made a face at that "Alright, alright keep your bloody hair on, Jesus are all you yanks this high strung?" He bit as he tugged on the door handle and opened it to reveal Lucy, Desmond and Altair.

"Uh...hi?" Lucy said meekly before she winced as soldiers dragged her and Desmond out of the van roughly "Hey what's the big idea!" she bit as she tried to twist out of their grip which was really tight as they dragged her away before twisting her arms behind her back and using zipcuffs to keep her restrained, Desmond struggled but they did the same to him and Shaun as well "Take these three into interrogation, is he the target?" The commander asked as Altair was dragged out next by two solders, one whom tugged Altair's hoodie down to show off his face "yes sir, he matches the description"

"Your making...a very big mistake" Altiar bit with a glare at the commander as he flicked out his hidden blade, he didn't hesitate in stabbing one man in the neck before elbowing the other man in the face as he tried to fight the soldiers off, but he stopped when he felt something pierce his leg "Wha-" He began to feel dizzy "Ngh" He slumped or would have had a soldier not grabbed him and held him upright as the strong tranquillizer started to take effect.

"Restrain him and take him for evac, the big boss wants this one personally" The Balckwatch Commander said with a wave of his hand as they cuffed Altiar and began to drag him towards a nearby army van while the other assassins were being taken to another truck.

Suddenly there was a strangled sound of a man choking before letting out a gurgled scream everyone turned towards the truck that Altiar was now stored in and Lucy gaped "...Holy shit...that's..."

"Its Zeus! Change rounds and open fire!" The commander order as Alex glared, his ice blue eyes flashing in nothing but utter malice as his left arm morphed into a large blade, he charged at he men his arm sweeping across them and slicing them in half blood going everywhere as the men screamed in pain.

The tank that had been nearby let out a barrage of fire power, which Alex deflected using his shield before he turned his hands into hammers fists and whaled on the tank, blowing it up easily in a matter of seconds, none of Blackwatch were left alive but he was sure someone would have been alerted to a tank blowing up. "..." He looked over at the three assassins who were watching him wide eyed.

Alex walked over to them he said nothing as he stared at them for a moment, then he turned the three of them around and cut them free of the zip cuffs; Lucy shook as she watched him; they were assassins and they shouldn't know fear; but this man...this man was not human, they called him a monster, a scourge of New York and yet...he had killed those men and he was letting them go? Alex walked over to the army truck and pulled out Altair's unconscious body cradling the male close in his arms, in an almost protective fashion "You three...your going to get into the van and your going to drive us away from here, got it?" He bit his words had no room for argument as he got into the back of the assassins white van and waited.

"...What?" Lucy gaped she exchanged a surprised look with Desmond who was...well stunned "Okay...who's going to sit in the back with him?" Shaun interjected the three exchanged looks before Shaun and Lucy turned to Desmond who groaned "Fine, fine stick me with...with whatever the hell he is"

"Sorry but there's only enough room in the front for two..." Lucy said sheepishly "And Shaun the only one that can drive..." She said softly as they got into the van "Hey ask him where we should go" She said to Desmond "I mean we have no clue where were going"

Desmond frowned at that as he got into the truck "Hey where do you want us to go...or do you want us to just drive around until we run out of fuel?" he sat and closed the doors behind him though he kept his distance form the other who was sat with Altair who was in a drugged sleep in his lap.

"Just drive, I'll give you directions on the way..." Alex bit his grip on the unconscious assassin tightening considerably as the van started and they set off away from the wreckage that Alex had left behind.

- 


	9. The Assassins and the Mercers

Chapter 9 – The Assassins and the Mercers

"Sir!" A young Blackwatch officer strode into the dimly lit office "We have a report from Central park it seems the tip off was correct, the second target was in the van...However Zeus intervened he completely annihilated the strike team and escaped with the assassin, we don;t know where they are now" The solider said softly.

"...I see so it seems Zeus is following this man...what is that thing thinking tailing and rescuing a bunch of humans like that?" He mumbled to himself; he couldn't comprehend Zeus's actions; he had never cared before about taking a human life if it wasn't connected to him personally, so what made Altair so different? Maybe that old fool of a doctor had a point when he said Zeus wasn't completely empty of morals.

"Your orders sir?" the young solider asked shifting a little uncomfortable at the intense gaze he was getting from the General; he knew that the older man was stressed; pressure to perform to their clients high standards and capture the target meant General Randall was in an even grouchier mood then usual

"Get Cross on the line, I want him flown in on a chopper as soon a humanly possible Zeus in unique, the first male walker...and now he's protecting the assassin, we need to break them both apart, by any means necessary" The general grumbled as he stood from his high chair, walking over to the window behind him and using a finger, he pulled the blondes down to peek out of the base; already he could see Blackwatch reinforcements that had been fowl in doing their training drills. "We will stop this infection dead and we'll get the target for them...bastards think we don't know what were doing!" He growled to himself before he turned to the young solider "You have your orders! Get out of my office boy!" He waved his arm dismissing the other.

The solider jumped to attention and saluted before he damn near ran out of the room in fright; the General was in a foul mood, even fouler than normal anyway, since tat man had come to visit.

The young solider decided it was better not to ask as he walked down the hallways shaking his head.

* * *

Alex watched Altair sleep in his arms seemingly undisturbed by the constant bumps and jerks as the van moved down the streets of New York, Alex grimaced; he couldn't remember the last time he had ridden in a vehicle that wasn't a tank or a Helicopter, it was uncomfortable and slow to him considering he could outrun cars.

Altair on the other hand seemed relaxed, peaceful; to be honest this was the first time he;d ever seen Altair asleep his face was relaxed and softened as he slept, the faint wrinkles on his face when he frowned had smoother out, making the assassin look younger than he actually was, speaking of which how OLD was Altair anyway? It was something Alex had failed to ask him, maybe he would later once they were safe.

Safe, that's the only thing on his mind, getting to safety; usually he wouldn't dare bring complete strangers along with him, but Altair had trusted these people enough to get in their van and if they were assassins, he doubted that the Arabian man would appreciate Alex murdering them, so he;d let them live so long as they gave him a lift.

Desmond noticed how focused Alex was on Altair's face, how closely he held him, and how gently... they had of course heard news reports about Alex and the infection prior to their arrival, he'd heard Alex was a terrorist, a monster that ruthlessly killed and held no remorse...but if that was true...why was he holding his ancestor in such a gentle grip? It was almost...loving.

"What are you staring at?" Alex bit his icy blue eyes stared at Desmond, his glare was accusing, almost daring him to say something about him and Altair and the position the two of them were in right now.

"At him! I just can't believe he's here...you don't know how important he is do you?" He said with a raised eyebrow, when he didn't receive a response he sighed "I don't even think he knows, I mean what person thinks about how much of an influence they'll be in the future? Who could even predict it?

" What the fuck are you talking about?" Alex bit wither a frown not exactly sure what Desmond was even getting at; was Altair important in his past? Was he vital to changing the future or something? The thought made him tighten his grip on Altair; it was selfish of him he knew and it was even a grudging admittance for him, but he didn't want to let Altair go.

"He's my ancestor...I'm his descendent, basically were related, he's like my great, great, great, great grandfather" Desmond said with a shrug.

Alex blinked at him before it hit him; Desmond DID look similar to Altair; he wasn't a perfect duplicate, far from it; for a a start Desmond was short standing 5 foot 7, he was almost much lighter skinned than the tanned Arabian, and his eyes were a chocolate brown. But he even had a scar in the same place as Altair.

"..." He wasn't sure what to say to the others words, he was pretty stunned at this news; he hadn't thought that Altair might have descendent in the present let alone one that knew who Altair was! It was eerie and he was sure it must be strange for the other as well. "...How?"

Desmond blinked at the sudden question "Huh? How what?" He said with a raised eyebrow before he clicked what he was asking "How do I know about Altair; Oh no reason really my ancestor just happens to be one of the most FAMOUS assassins in the history of all assassins; the man had a fucking statue dedicated to him and everything in Italy, and the Codex that he wrote; its what all assassins follow as his example, his man literally changed the assassin order in his time" Desmond explained.

Alex stared if not really believing him; or maybe he didn't want to; if Altair was that important, then maybe he'd have no choice but to let him go back "So your an assassin too? You don't look like one" He grumbled which was true Desmond didn't have the aura of a natural born killer, though Lucy and Shaun did, they had probably seen a lot and killed a lot as well.

Desmond shrugged "I haven't killed anyone yet, technically I'm still in training" He said as he pulled his knees closer to his chest; the others intense gaze was starting to unnerve him.

"...What else do you know about Altair?" Alex asked he couldn't keep the ting of curiosity out of his voice; Altair was a mystery he revealed a few things to him but not everything and he didn't know why but he wanted to know.

Desmond pondered this "I know a lot, but I only know all this because I WAS him... its a long story but, I was kidnapped by a company in Italy called Abstergo..." Desmond proceeded to tell Alex his story the one that coincided with Altair's past because he'd lived through it, he told him in detail how a group called Abstergo were a front for the modern day templars, and that they used a machine called an Animus to extract something called genetic memory; memories passed down through DNA. He told Alex how Altair had; in the time line he had seen, beaten Al Maulim and took his place as Grand Master, he completed the codex and married Maria a British women whom had been manipulated to working with the Templars, he had two sons and ruled the assassins until he died of old age.

"Or at least...that's what's supposed to happen, he doesn't look a day over 26 still which means he probably hasn't become grand master yet" Desmond said softly.

Alex said nothing as he heard Altair's future; it almost stung that Altair would eventually have to leave "I see...he told me that he was sent here after he failed to fuck up his Master" He said with a shrug.

"...shit" Desmond breather; if Altair failed to retrieve the piece of Eden from Al Maulim then what would happen to his other ancestors! What would happen to him? He was surprised he hadn't already faded out of existence or something equally weird.

"I take it, from what you've told me that's a bad thing..." He muttered more to himself with a sigh; he was disappointed he wouldn't lie; after all the trouble of denying he actually liked the assassin and now he;d have to let him go.

"So...Uh are you two?" Desmond shut up at the venomous glare that Alex shot at him tendrils of the virus slipping out of his body in a threatening fashion "Whoa sorry I asked!"

"Ugh..." Altair was finally beginning stir as the tranquilliser began to wear off he struggled to open his eyes and focus his whole body felt slow and sluggish as if he was lying in glue or something very sticky. He opened his eyes slowly but they were unfocused as he tried to fathom where he was and what the hell had happened.

He quickly remembered that those soldiers had drugged him and captured him and that was the last thing he remembered; he struggled to move and found to his surprise that his hands weren't bound, neither were his legs, but he was being held by something warm...which meant a person was holding him! And like a baby no less!

"Get off me! Ugh get off I'm not a child!" Altair growled as he pushed Alex away he landed on his ass and slowly sat up and and let his vision slowly go back into focus when he looked up he realized the person that had been holding him, had been none other than Alex who looked torn between being angry or maybe a tad hurt.

"Alex? What are you doing here? Where are we?" He rubbed his head as he felt a headache coming on his fingers raking through his short hair letting the hoodie fall back for a bit as he tried to ease the pain.

"Hey take it easy those soldiers drugged you but you should be okay, your safe now" Desmond assured his ancestor with a faint but nervous smile; he still didn't know what to make of his ancestor being here in the present but he;d have to made the most of it.

"..." Altair looked at Desmond and nodded before he looked over at Alex "Don't do that again" He grumbled, he was grateful Alex has help but he was not a helpless women! Alex didn't have to carry him for the whole ride.

"...Fine next time I WONT SAVE YOUR FUKING LIFE!" He snarled before he got up he walked to the van doors and opened them before he jumped out without another word.

"Whoa!" Desmond grabbed on of the doors "Altair grab the other one! We need to close the doors" Altair nodded as he shuffled to the edge of the van and pulled the doors close again with quite some effort "..." Altair said nothing bot sure what to say; he honestly hadn't meant to anger the other but he didn't want to be treated like he was fragile; he'd screwed up but he never made the same mistake twice.

"...You okay?" Desmond asked once he locked up the doors again.

"...I'm fine why wouldn't I be?" Altair asked stiffly.

"Because you care about him, and I'm sure you didn't mean to piss him off, man he's got a major anger problem" Desmond said with a shrug and he cares about you, I mean you didn't see how pissed he was, or what he did to those soldiers"

"I can imagine" Altair said dryly as he sat back down with a sigh "He's...temperamental" He admitted to which Desmond chuckled.

"No shit...so...are you and him together or something? He was being really protective of you when you were asleep, not that there's anything wrong with it or anything" He said nervously when Altair gave him a similar warning glare. "Its just that...well its kinds not what I expected, I mean the news makes Alex out to be a terrorist and stuff, he's obviously not human so...how did it happen?"

Altair shrugged "It just did" He said simply "These things happen and...I like him there's more to him then you would think" Altair said simply as he looked Desmond over; now he got a closer look at the other he looked familiar "...you look like me"

"...Uh yeah that's because were related I'm kinda your descendent" Desmond said with a faint but sheepish grin.

"...really? How do you know that?" He said with a raised eyebrow; he was frankly stunned Desmond had just gone out and said it.

Desmond just chuckled "Trust me its a long story..." He said.

"I have plenty of time" He said simply with a smirk.

Alex slammed the door as he stormed into the apartment "Whoa! Alex! What the fuck? Are you trying to break the door? What happened?" Dana asked as she jumped a male in surprise when he brother stormed through the house like a hurricane...a very pissed off hurricane.

"Altair! I saved his fucking life and he treats me like I insulted him!" He yelled before he punched the wall; his fist going right through the wallpaper and plasterboard easily; almost too easily it wasn't hard enough to endure the anger Alex had.

"Whoa whoa, Alex...look at me, take a deep break and calm the fuck down, sit with me and tell me not shout TELL me what happened and I'll try and help you alright?" She said soothingly as she tentatively reached out and rubbed her brothers arm on a gentle soothing motion; she was always cautious always a little scared when she touched him; approaching Alex when angry was much like approaching a wounded and pissed off lion, you had to approach with caution.

Alex took a deep breath and slowly seemed to calm down before he walked over to the sofa and sat down and Dana followed "Alright start from the beginning" She urged. Alex paused before he told her what had happened it didn't take long but at the end of it it left the siblings with a lot of questions.

"Wait wait...your saying they they want Altair? As in capture him and not shoot him on sight? Why? That doesn't make any fucking sense before they would have quite happily show Altair down as well as you...but if they want him in custody then it means one thing..."

"They know he's from the past,that or that he's and assassin, one of the two"Alex finished softly "And I stopped them, I saved him-"

"Alex, Altair is not a fucking girl, he is a full grown man and he kills people for a living! He wants some respect but you held him in your arms for the entire ride like he was a damsel in fucking distress, he felt like you were degrading him maybe even in a way saying he was weak; I know you didn't mean it in that way, but seriously, no wonder he reacted the way he did, if roles were revered and he did that to you, would YOU be happy?"

"...No" Alex admitte3d after some thought and a sigh "...I fucked up"

"Alex everyone fucks up from time to time none of us are perfect, just say your sorry and I'm sure Altair will forgive you and be reasonable, I mean he's your boyfriend isn't he?"

"W-what?" He said startled at this; sure he and Altair had been...intimate when Dana hadn't been looking but, they had never said the words 'lover' or 'boyfriend' or anything at all really,what existed between the was...unnamed right now.

"Alex you've kissed the man more time than I care to mention- don't give me that look I'm not stupid when your pinning him to a wall in the hallway and snogging him I can HEAR it" She said with a smirk "Unless you want to claim he's a friend with benefits you better figure out whether you want him as a live in lover or not"

"I...didn't think about it" He grunted softly; and he hadn't really he just presumed tat he wouldn't have to say anything at all and thing's would continue being sort of...nice a change, when he came home Altair was always there with a faint smile and a welcome home, sometimes he didn't even get that off Dana if she was really busy. Altair had slipped under his 'skin' so to speak and into what was left of his heart and was stuck there whether he liked it or not.

"Well you-huh?" He stopped when she heard the door of the apartment open and Altair walked in followed by three others "...Ah...Uh Dana meet the assassins, they need somewhere low to stay..." He said sheepishly.

"Oh great there's hardly any fucking room as it is" She grumbled as she folded her arms "Well what the fuck; its not my apartment anyway" She said with a shrug; she wasn't the one paying the bills on this place so why should she care?

"Oh, charmed I'm sure" Shaun quipped sarcastically "Nice to meet you too sweetheart" He said in a sarcastic tone to Dana who glared at him her fists clenched.

"Nice STRAYS you fucking bright home Altair!" She bit "I REALLY going to love being stuck with him"

"I have a name, its Shaun Hastings, please take the time to remember it, Dana" he said with a smirk as Dana eye twitched in utter loathing before she stormed off into the kitchen muttering about men and their over inflated ego's

"Nice going Shaun" Lucy said sarcastically "Piss off the girl who might let us crash here until we can find a place of our own-I'm sorry about him he has a stick up his ass all the time" she said as she pointed to Shaun who glared at the back of Lucy's head. Alex just huffed and said nothing looking away from them (Mainly Altair) uninterestedly.

"Uh, well Shaun and Desmond can share my room, and I'm sure when Dana calms down, you can share with her Lucy, I'll take the sofa" He said softly as he tried his best to get everyone organised; he went into the kitchen and smoother Dana over, at least enough for them to all stay for a few days.

By the time the three assassins had moved their stuff in and they;d had dinner it was already late so everyone was taking turns in the small bathroom to get ready for bed. Altair waited for the others to finish up and noticed Alex was getting ready to go out "...Alex...I am sorry for what I said to you earlier, I grateful you saved me from those men I am but-Mmmph" He blinked startled when Alex caught him off guard with a soft kiss.

"I get it, you don't have to say any more" He grumbled "I guess...I'm sorry too" He said in a whisper as his face burned in embarrassment; he'd never had to apologize to anyone so sincerely in his life before. "...your still mine right?" He said as he looked at the other up and down.

"You can;t own me Alex, as much as you want to...but I am your lover, yes" He said softly

Alex let a twitch of a smile spread onto his face at those words; it seemed Altair had beaten him to it and it made him almost feel warm and fizzy inside...it that was even possible for him "I'll be back before dawn"

"I'll be waiting" Altair said simply with a wave as Alex jumped out of the window and was gone.


	10. Searching for answers

Chapter 10 – Searching for answers

"General, Capitan Cross has arrived" a Blackwatch Lieutenant said as he saluted, before moving to one side to let the man pass; Cross was a tall man and wrapped in thick black body armour, his face was worn and aged and he had streaks of grey in his hair, he looked to be in about his late thirties to early forties.

"Ah, Capitan come in" He said as the lieutenant closed the door behind the two, leaving them alone in the dim room "You should know that I wouldn't call you here if it wasn't an emergency, but we have a situation that I need you to take care of"

"Oh?" Cross enquired with a raised eyebrow; he had read the file about this particular case on the way into New York, about Mercer, but he didn't know the whole story, as of yet, or even what Randell wanted to be done, though he could probably guess.

"We have a walker, the first male to actually exist, he's destroyed a good portion of my military arsenal and consumed plenty more of my men, He was in Gentek's morgue when he woke up and busted through a 2 foot thick steel door, he's been on the run since and released Greene from Genteks secure facility; you interested?"

"Of course sir, what would you have me do?" Cross asked; Alex mercer would be intriguing prey; as a male there was no doubt he'd be stronger than Greene and she in herself was tough, considering how much of New York she had already infected in such a short amount of time.

"First and foremost, I need you to distract it" Randall said firmly his gaze watching Cross's reaction, and want surprised to see the others puzzlement.

"...Distract him?" Cross repeated, more than a little confused; that was not what he had been expecting; Alex Mercer was a walker; surely they wanted him dead didn't they? So why do such a thing as draw attention to themselves? There must be something else he didn't know yet. "I don't understand sir, why distract him?"

"...I'd kill the bastard and get it over with if I had a choice, but I don't...our financiers, the supporters of Blackwatch and Blacklight funding, are after this man" The General pressed a button on a small remote and Altair's face came up in the screen; it was a blown up picture of when he had fought together against soldiers before they had managed to subdue and drug him. "His name is Altair, he's around 25-30 years of age, he's dark skinned with unusual yellow eyes; he's tall, around your height at around 6 foot, and he is an assassin, he has skills unlike anything I have seen before; he is always armed, especially with this odd device on his wrist, some sort of hidden knife that pops out" He said softly tapping at it on the blown up image, before he turned to Cross.

"I want you to confront Mercer directly, draw it away from Altair and then when it's distracted, a team will corner Altair and drug him and take him away; by the time you make your escape Altair will be gone and Mercer will be left without any viable clues."

"I see sir..." Cross said; there were plenty of ways he could see this backfiring in his mind, but orders were orders and he wasn't about to question the other right now; not when the General seemed so stressed to perform "I'll gather some men and make a trap for Mercer, I'll give him bait that he cant refuse"

"And how are you going to do that?" Randell asked with a raised eyebrow, curious to know the others plan.

"I read Mercer's file on there way in sir, his sister Dana Mercer is still at large is she not? Though she's not a threat, I'm sure she can be located easily enough; if we kidnap her use her as bait then this, Altair is wide open" He said simply.

"Very will Sargent, I expect some real results from you" He said. Cross nodded and saluted before he left without another word. Randell huffed as he looked up at the ceiling "This better work" He growled to himself.

If it didn't he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

"So...you guys are all assassins, you ran from Italy where a company called Abstergo is chasing you...which is a front for the modern day Templars that Altair mentioned?" Dana asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked at the three assassins in front of her at the kitchen table; It was the next morning, Altair was still asleep, having done everything he could to wait up for Alex, but even he couldn't stay up all morning as well as all evening, and as such was fast asleep and oblivious to the others having breakfast in the kitchen not ten feet away from him.

"Yeah that's about right" Desmond said as he bit down on a piece of toast and began chewing on it slowly before he swallowed "Abstergo kidnapped me from the bar I was working in and strapped me in this machine called an Animus, its able to dig deep into your genetic memory" he explained.

"Genetic memory? What the fuck's that?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she leaned forward a bit curious to know more about it.

"It is what it says darling, genetic memory is memory passed through ones DNA, it doesn't just record your memories, but those of your ancestors as well" Shaun said as he sipped some tea with a smirk at Dana's glare "Abstergo, or the Templars to us, FORCED Desmond here to relive Altair's memories before Lucy broke him out of there, if she hadn't he'd be dead by now" Shaun said with a shrug.

"So you guys are on the run, and you came to see Altair cause he's important or something?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He's my ancestor" Desmond said quietly.

"What!" Dana said wide eyed at the other, not quite believing it; not that you could blame her; after all it was an unusual thing to say! "Are you fucking serious?" she asked before she paused and leaned closer to Desmond, taking in his features now she was closer to him "...Wait,you do look a little bit like him...you even have the same scar"

Desmond grinned a bit "Yeah, I got that from your brother too, he didn't say anything but he looked at me and it seemed to click were alike" He said with a soft laugh before he looked over at Altair who was still asleep "He looks exhausted though, did he get any sleep at all?" Desmond asked as he pointed to the passed out Arabian on the sofa.

"He probably sat up all night waiting for Alex, he was still awake half an hour ago I guess he finally passed out once he realized we were all up" Dana said with a shrug; she had to admit despite her initial annoyance to begin with, the sudden calamity of so many people in the apartment was a nice change, even if one of them was a sarcastic prick. Speaking of sarcastic pricks... "Well it seems we have a problem either way, because time in itself has changed" Shaun interjected.

"Meaning?" Dana asked with a raised at the other; god Shaun was so...full of himself!

"Meaning, that Altair in the time line we have followed through genetic memory, was supposed to kill Al Maulim, take over as Grand Master of the assassins, complete the Codex, upgrade the assassin weapons and techniques, marry a women named Maria, have kids and die at a ripe old age" Shaun said, counting each event off with his fingers "He was not supposed to come to the present and fall for your brother...Altair's whole future bloodline revolves around him having at least ONE child in the past with Maria"

"Well...Desmond's still here so maybe he had a kid beforehand?" Dana asked with a raised eyebrow as she poked Desmond just to check he was still here. Yup, he was still solid.

"Mhmmm well...he did love another women once before, but she died...its not impossible for him to have borne a child from her I suppose" Shaun said with a shrug "What was her name...Abda I think it was I believe they were childhood friends or something similar they seemed to have met before Altair ran into her during a mission"

"What happened to her?" Dana asked.

"The Templars took her, Altair tried to hunt her down in Greece but by the time he located her she was already a corpse" Shaun said softly "He got so pissed off about it, that he personally hunted down everyone involved in her capture and murder, and killed them in cold blood"

"Whoa...seriously he...doesn't look like he;d do that" Dana said softly as she paled a bit; Altair was so...well not exactly nice, but polite and while guarded and suspicious, he was friendly enough to her.

"Oh he would, don't forget he kills people for a living as do we all" Shaun said simply as he finished his tea "He loved Abda and he got revenge for her; I'm sure he;d like that with anyone he cares about"

Dana looked over at Altair; would he be like that if Alex got hurt? Hell if Altair was the one that got hurt there would defiantly be hell to pay; she couldn't speak for Altair but she knew her brother; he took betrayal and manipulation against him seriously; he murdered his ex-girlfriend for selling him out and had already killed a strike team just because they DRUGGED Altair let alone psychically hurt him!

Alex really liked Altair he was even possessive of him, hell Alex probably loved Altair and just didn't know it yet. And Dana didn't think Altair fully realized any of it just yet "Okay enough of that, who wants more coffee?"

Alex frowned as he watched the Gentek building from a distance, they wanted Altair...but what for? It didn't make any sense! How could they know that Altair was an assassin? How could they know he was from the past? The assassins found out because they traced their IP address, because Altair had been doing nothing BUT searching for assassins, but Gentek and the military...they shouldn't even know Altair exists other then knowing he associated with Alex, and they even wanted him dead at one point...something had obviously changed and he was determined to find out what.

Shape-shifting into a soldier he'd consumed earlier, he slipped into the base, sabotaging the sensors that always detected him (He hated those fucking things) as he want, he then consumed the commander without being seen and entered the army base; ONE of these fucking bases had to have some sort of clue as to what was going on.

The base was quite empty, save for the odd soldier on patrol and a few army trucks; he looked around with a frown; he saw some sort of computer engineer, he was fiddling around with another soldiers laptop.

"Can ya fix it?" The solider, obviously who owned the laptop asked curiously as he hovered around the other guy.

"Yeah, yeah give me some space man, go clean your gun for five minutes or somethin'!" He said shooing the other off as he fiddled with the ting while it was propped up on a stack of crates "Dunno why he brought the stupid thing into a war zone anyway...probably to jerk off with his fucking boyfriend" the soldier grumbled to himself, absorbed in his work.

No one saw Alex sneak up behind the man and consume him; instantly all of the man's knowledge was his and he fixed the laptop easily within 10 minutes before he turned it on; maybe this thing had access to Blackwatch's database! He frowned when he realized it required a password, the man he'd consumed fixed computers but he wasn't a hacker, leaving him stuck.

"Hey you fixed it! Thanks man!" The solider said; he was youthful looking and had a British accent, he didn't look much older then 19 or 20 years of age and was obviously a rookie "Now I can see my girlfriend online tonight! Your a star!" He said with a thumbs up as he took the laptop and walked off.

"..." Alex didn't follow; the kid...he was in the army but...he was just that, a kid...and had a girl friend and- wait why did this suddenly bother him NOW! Before he didn't give a shit about the relatives of anyone he consumed! So why did he NOW suddenly gain a conscience!

"..." Alex grit his teeth; this wasn't working, he didn't have time to question his sudden change of morals, he needed to find a computer room in this base and consume someone high up with the passwords to the Blackwatch files, not some rookie kid.

He walked around the room trying to spot anyone that could be useful in gleaning information from. Silently, Alex slipped into a large communications room where a few soldiers and communications officers were milling about and working Alex frowned; one of these guys had to have the ability to access the Blackwatch database.

He made sure no one was watching before he consumed the most important looking guy there before he sat in front of a computer; this guy had a lot of information rattling around in the brain, he had all the passwords too. Perfect!

Cracking his fingers he grinned a bit as he typed in the passwords needed and began accessing the more classified area of the whole database.

'Loading...loading...access granted' the computer screen flashed up cheerily in green, opening up all the directories in the classified section for him; smirking in triumph, Alex began flicking through the various files, searching for information about Altair. When he found it he wasn't surprised that files on Altair had a very high security clearance and required yet another password, lucky he knew the password and accessed the files.

Unluckily the whole thing was encrypted, making it currently unreadable to him. Alex frowned not sure what to do now...until he spotted a USB stick nearby, smirking he swiped it, plugged it into the computer and emptied the flash drive of whatever other contents it had, before he started to download all the files on Altair.

Once the download was complete, he took the USB stick and shoved it into his pocket before he left the communications room., after he slipped out of the base unseen, he changed his form back to normal before jumping up against a building and running up to the roof; he was no good with encrypted files; hacking and all that crap had never been his speciality, but maybe Dana or Altair's assassin friends could help.

Altair opened his eyes slowly before he blinked; when had he fallen asleep? It can;t have been very long, he could hear the sounds of someone washing up, an indication breakfast must have only just finished. He yawned softly and stretched over the sofa before he sat up slowly; it seemed Alex had still not returned, which made Altair frown; Alex had said he would back at Dawn but he had not, and the Arabian male tried not to be concerned, after all Alex was more then capable of taking care of himself, so he supposed something big had come up and the other was taking care of it; Dana seemed used to him being gone for days on end anyway.

"Hey your up" He looked up to the blonde girl Lucy, who offered him a cup of coffee "Dana said you liked coffee so I thought I'd pour you one" she said softly Altair smiled a bit in return as he took the steaming cup and gave her a nod of thanks before he sipped it slowly letting the hot, bitter liquid slide down his throat; ahh caffeine, the best discovery of the future in Altair's opinion.

"Thank you" He said softly "I presume Alex isn't back yet?" He said softly as he looked around; there was no sign of the other but maybe he'd missed him while he'd been passed out asleep and he'd slunk into his room? Dana said Alex was never good with crowds, his paranoid behaviour meant he cared little for groups of people he barely knew.

"Uh no not that we know of, his sister said he hadn't come back..."She said softly "...are you worried?"

"...Only that he might be biting off a bit more than he can chew" Altair said softly, a little disappointed that his faint hope of Alex being home was dashed. Sighing softly, he drank his coffee finishing the cup before he stood; as much as he could drink coffee all day he needed to eat; he wasn't so used to the modern day foods like bacon and sausage; he avoided those mostly because he wasn't never allowed meat unless it was blessed as akin to the Muslim culture he was raised in.

That's not to say Altair was religious; he didn't pray five times a day, or read to Quran, after all he was an assassin and killing others went against he Muslim religion as a whole, but some aspects of it were still installed into his culture, like not to drink alcohol or eat meat that wasn't blessed.

Altair just stuck to fruit for breakfast, it was something he was used to and bit into the apple chewing lazily as he watched the others around the table talk about this and that, Altair wasn't really listening as he watched them all interact; apart form Dana and Shaun giving each other scathing, sarcastic comments they all seemed to be getting along rather well.

The Arabian male looked up when he heard the window slide open and Alex slipped in through the window a moment later which made everyone else turn to look, the older male didn't look any more worse for wear but he did have a scowl on his face; it seemed whatever Alex had been doing hadn't turned out as well as he'd hoped "Alex, welcome back" Altair said with a little smile, Alex however, didn't smile back and just got bluntly to the point.

"Okay, which one of you is good at decoding highly classified files?" he asked

The assassins all blinked at him, a little stunned at the sudden question, before it was Shaun who raised a hand "That would be me, I'm the master of decryption" He said with a smirk.

"Show off" Lucy said with a roll of her eyes amused as Alex tossed a flash drive on the table where it skidded to a stop in front of the historian.

"Decode this for me; it's...important" He glanced at Altair who was stood leaning on the kitchen counter before he said nothing more and retreated to his room. The tanned male looked at Lucy then the others confused before he pushed himself off the counter, tossing his half eaten apple into the bin and followed Alex.

"Just another day in the Mercer household" Dana said with a shrug when everyone turned to her with a confused look.

"Alex?" Altair slid into the others room; he remembered the last time he'd been in here when Alex got mad at him; he doubted the same would happen this time, a lot had changed after all "...You didn't return at dawn...did something happen?" He asked.

"..." Alex didn't answer at first; he sighed softly as he rubbed at his eyes tiredly and maybe even in a bit of frustration, before he turned to the other "I was looking for answers..." he said simply not revealing anything more than that.

Altair sighed "Your always looking for answers Alex...when are you going to stop and take a break?" Altair asked as he places a hand on the shorter males shoulder"Your tired"

"I can't stop, I need to-" He broke off when Altair grabbed his arm stopping him his grip in the leather jacket was firm but not rough just enough to make him stop "...Altair-"

"Don't run off again today...stay" He said softly "I don't know what it is you found but its enough, your tired, and worn out, and you won't be able to think clearly in such a state, not even assassins do everything all at once" He said softly. "We relax before a mission and take time to prepare...doing things all at once means you will make mistakes, and that might cost you dearly"

"..." Alex watched Altair, who was still wearing an old shirt and PJ bottoms as a form of sleep wear "I...don't know what to do to relax...I can't sleep Altair, even when I want to...the voices..." He winced suddenly and gripped at his head through the hoodie with one hand.

"..." Altair reached up and tugged the others hood down revealing the others dark brown mass of curly hair "Sit" He ordered softly as he gave the other a gentle nudge, to his surprise Alex obeyed and didn't bother questioning Altair's actions, what did surprise Alex was when the younger male crawled onto Alex's bed behind him and began to rake his hands through the others short curly hair, his fingers gently massaging his scalp.

"..." Alex moved his hand from his face startled; it was odd; even though it did little to deal with the voices, the others touch seemed to sooth the pain away a little, at least until it was bearable. Slowly he started to relax and melted into the assassin's touch.

He actually let out a soft groan when Altair's hands moved from his head down to his neck and shoulders the 'muscles' they were tense and strung tight like on the string of a guitar, but slowly they started to loosen and relax and unwind under Altair's fingers. "Please tell me this was a part of your assassin training "Alex said; his tone suggested it was a joke which surprised Altair: Alex Mercer? Make a joke? The world was about to end he was sure!

"Well it wasn't part of the official training...in a way we all picked it up off each other; assassins need rest and relaxation to perform to their best, it's why we sleep and meditate before missions to have a clear head before going into dangerous territory" He said softly "Often times the Dai's in the Assassins bureau would assist others in relaxation by giving massages or lighting incense to help with meditation, no one tells us to learn this, it's just something you do to help your fellow assassin" he said with a chuckle.

Alex let a small smile spread onto his face Altair's hands worked like magic on his stressed and tired body; hell he almost felt like he could actually sleep like this; the others fingers were calloused, and rough from training, but the touch was firm yet gentle, coaxing his body to relax and melt into his fingers.

It made Alex think what else Altair could do with his hands.

Alex jerked out of his dirty little day dream before it could go anywhere, when he realized Altair had stopped rubbing his shoulders "Huh?"

Altair smiled "I thought you were going to fall asleep on me so I stopped" He said amused as he sat cross legged on the bed "You seem more relaxed now" He said softly before he held a hand up to his mouth and yawned "I think, I'm going to go back to sleep for a little while"

"...You stayed up all night waiting for me didn't you?" Alex asked feeling a little guilty for letting Altair lose sleep like that; the man was only human after all.

Altair nodded "Mhmm I only fell asleep around an hour ago" he said softly his eyes already starting to droop as he fought sleep for a little longer; it didn't help that Alex's bed was really soft and almost called at him to be snuggled into. "I'll see you later when I've caught up on sleep" Altair said as he shifted tog et off the bed...when Alex caught his hand "...!"

"Stay...I mean you can sleep here with me, uh... I -I mean if you want to" He said now looking rather awkward as he let Altair's hand go; where the hell had that come from! The words had slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them; and in truth not being alone when he was supposed to be sleeping would be a nice change.

He'd have something nice to look at at least.

"Are you sure?" Altair asked but he was hardly objecting as he let out another yawn; he was ready to fall asleep where he sat anyway.

"...yeah" Alex said softly "Get in" He said softly as he pulled the covers back for Altair who literally fell into the others bed, exhausted; Alex paused before he decided he'd join the other; he kicked off his shoes , hoodie and jacket before he slipped into bed with the Arabian male.

He noticed by this point Altair was already curled onto his side fast asleep; he'd been so tired he hadn't even had the chance to say good night; and for some reason that made Alex smile rather than make him annoyed "...good morning to you too" He mumbled amused.

He wondered if Altair would mind if he held him in his sleep? Would he get mad? He didn't think the other would, but what if he did? Alex frowned to himself; maybe he should just leave the other alone?

In the end Alex, slowly, shyly wrapped an arm around the others waist under the covers a soft blush tingeing his cheeks as his fingers brushed over hard muscle through the others clothing. Once he had an arm around the other and Altair didn't so much as stir, let alone wake up, he relaxed and closed his eyes, he was tired but he doubted he would sleep; sleep was for those who deserved it.

But for Altair, he would try.

DONE! WHOOOOOOO! This one is eight pages long! Its even longer than the last one O.O I did some major editing to this one and added loads of detail at the last minute mainly because I wanted to add more description rather than to be lazy.

Ahhh Alex, how I DO love digging into your brain! Its so much fun to think how he thinks XD Sorry! Theres no sex in this one It'll probably be in the next chapter or the chapter after that and there will be two visrions; one will be the clean version with cuts out most of the sex and the other will be downright dirty XD its up to you which version you preffer XD


	11. URGENT NOTICE!

NOTICE!

Okay, I'm sure you are all aware that I haven't updated Crossed times on on a long time, in truth I don't read half as much fanfiction as I used to, my focus is more art orientated and has been for a few years, that's not to say I don't write fanfiction, I still do but when I publish it here I get very little in the way of response, and I seem to get much more feedback on Deviantart.

So the good news is, for those not in the know, Crossed times is actually up to chapter 13 on Deviant art and the link is here. ' Http:/ jaderotaski. Deviantart. com/gallery/28665940?offset=24#/d4e4qpv ' just remove the spaces between the dots :)

Thanks for all yours words of encouragement guys and I hope to heard from you on Deviant Art!

Jade xx


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